DOT

Two 125th Street Intersections Slated for Ped Safety Fixes

Harlem's Main Street is slated to receive some pedestrian safety improvements at two dangerous intersections. Where 125th Street meets Lenox and St. Nicholas Avenues, NYCDOT safety plans call for a package of enhancements to make walking less harrowing.

By Noah Kazis

5:45 PM EDT on April 15, 2010

The proposed redesign for the intersection of 125th Street and Lenox Avenue. The project would convert left-turn bays on Lenox into wider pedestrian refuges. Image: NYCDOT

Harlem’s Main Street is slated to receive some pedestrian safety improvements at two dangerous intersections. Where 125th Street meets Lenox and St. Nicholas Avenues, NYCDOT safety plans call for a package of enhancements to make walking less harrowing.

The high volume of traffic on 125th, which feeds into the Triborough Bridge, present dangers for pedestrians on the busy retail and transit corridor. The subway station at 125th and Lenox makes it a particularly busy intersection. From 2004 to 2009, 21 pedestrians were injured there.

In response, DOT plans to widen the pedestrian refuges in the middle of Lenox Avenue, reclaiming space by eliminating left-turn bays. Left turns from Lenox are already illegal from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the plan would extend that restriction to the rest of the day. DOT also plans to introduce leading pedestrian intervals, giving walkers a head start over turning cars.

At 125th and St. Nicholas, 12 pedestrians were injured from 2004 to 2008. There, DOT is proposing neckdowns on three corners of the intersection, giving people shorter distances to cross.

DOT presented the proposal to Manhattan Community Board 10 last night. An agency spokesperson says DOT will be returning to the board at a later date in response to requests for more information on the project.

A photo of 125th and Lenox and a rendering of the intersection with pedestrian safety improvements. Images: NYCDOT.

Noah Kazis

Noah joined Streetsblog as a New York City reporter at the start of 2010. When he was a kid, he collected subway paraphernalia in a Vignelli-map shoebox. Before coming to Streetsblog, he blogged at TheCityFix DC and worked as a field organizer for the Obama campaign in Toledo, Ohio. Noah graduated from Yale University, where he wrote his senior thesis on the class politics of transportation reform in New York City. He lives in Morningside Heights.