The DOT has released plans to fix the hairy pedestrian crossings and alleviate crippling congestion at the intersections of Delancey and Bowery and Spring and Bowery.
Currently, crossing the Bowery at Spring on foot requires you to maneuver around a thicket of cars that are illegally idling in the crosswalks.
On the corners of Bowery at Delancey, and endless stream of vehicles careen into the lanes to get on the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridges, and the precious seconds needed to cross are swallowed up by drivers' unlawful failure to yield. Drivers turning right on the Bowery also face reduced visibility.
Between 2008 and 2012, 27 people, including four pedestrians, were injured at Bowery and Spring. During the same time period, 87 people, including 14 pedestrians and 10 cyclists, were injured at Bowery and Delancey. That intersection also saw a cyclist fatality in that five-year period.
Delancey Street is home to some of the most dangerous intersections for pedestrians in the city, and a series of improvements were made along the road in 2012.
The DOT plans to create two full time receiving lanes and a bus/rush hour lane along the corridor, as well as shift the turn lane at Bowery and Delancey.
Both intersections will have improved pedestrian islands with foliage, and pedestrians will have an 11 second head start to cross at Delancey and Bowery. Visibility will be improved for drivers making that right turn onto the Bowery. You can see all the proposed alterations here [PDF].
Bowery Boogie reports that CB 3 approved the changes last night, and that the DOT hopes to break ground in late spring or early summer.
