DOT Announces New Arterial Slow Zones Across the Boroughs

On Friday, DOT announced the second round of Arterial Slow Zones, which will expand the program by 14 streets before the end of the year.

The first of those streets to get the slow zone treatment is Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, where as of today the speed limit is 5 miles per hour lower along a five-mile segment, from E. 161st Street to Bainbridge Avenue, according to a DOT press release.

Arterials comprise 15 percent of total NYC street mileage, but account for some 60 percent of pedestrian fatalities. With high-visibility signage, changes in signal timing, and — ostensibly — increased law enforcement, the Arterial Slow Zone program brings a focus to streets that are especially dangerous.

“In total, dangerous speeding will be reduced on more than 65 miles of major corridors that have seen 83 fatalities,” the DOT press release says.

The citywide default 25 mph speed limit is expected to be implemented by October.

Here are the other phase two streets, with the expected slow zone completion month and their respective number of pedestrian fatalities from 2008 to 2012:

• Manhattan: Seventh Avenue from Central Park South to 11th Street, August, four fatalities
• Brooklyn: Coney Island Avenue from Park Circle to the Boardwalk, September, six fatalities
• Queens: Roosevelt Avenue from Queens Boulevard to 154th Street, September, five fatalities
• Staten Island: Victory Boulevard from Bay Street to Wild Avenue, September, five fatalities
• Brooklyn: Utica Avenue from Malcom X Boulevard to Flatbush Avenue, October, 12 fatalities
• Brooklyn: Flatbush Avenue/Flatbush Avenue Extension from Concord Street to Hendrickson Place, October, 11 fatalities

• Manhattan: Amsterdam Avenue from 59th Street to 190th Street, October, eight fatalities
• Manhattan: Bowery from Chatham Square to Cooper Square, November, five fatalities
• Bronx: Third Avenue from E. 138th Street to E. 183rd Street, November, four fatalities
• Manhattan: Houston Street from West Street to Baruch Place, November, one fatality
• Manhattan: Park Avenue from E. 45th Street to E. 132nd Street, November, six fatalities
• Manhattan: Sixth Avenue from Central Park South to Franklin Street, December, five fatalities
• Queens: Metropolitan Avenue from Onderdonk Avenue to 132nd Street, December, six fatalities

Two phase one slow zones — Broadway north of 59th Street and most of Southern Boulevard — took effect today. NYPD has pledged to enforce the new 25 mph speed limit on those streets.