Residents say traffic endangers kids at new school site

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Riverdale resident Tom O’Laughlin ends his daily commute on foot, walking down West 231st Street from the nearest subway stop on Broadway. He says he has had some close calls while navigating the busy T-intersection between 231st and Riverdale Avenue.

“I almost got hit a couple of times,” he said. “And that’s me paying attention. There are guys on cell phones whipping around the corner. Now the chances of it happening are pretty good, that someone’s going to get injured.”

A number of residents voiced concern that a school under construction near a steep part of Riverdale Avenue and 231st Street will exacerbate an already hazardous situation. The International Leadership Charter High School is expected to open in September.

Plenty of the foot traffic comes from students. Youngsters from the nearby John F. Kennedy campus trek to a stop on 231st Street for the Bx1, 2, 7, 10 and 20 buses. There are five other schools within blocks of the intersection — the IN-Tech Academy, P.S. 37, the Tech International Charter School, St. John’s School, P.S. 7 and P.S. 207.

Recent NYPD stats show the hazards that 231st Street poses to drivers and pedestrians alike. Just last month, there were five collisions involving 12 total vehicles on West 231st Street from Godwin Terrace to Tibbett Avenue, albeit none at Riverdale Avenue itself, where one of four lanes was sporadically blocked during the new school’s construction.

The school, which did not answer an inquiry seeking details of its traffic plans, expects to enroll 420 students on its 231st Street site. To Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, the influx of children shows a lack of foresight by planners.

“I can’t think of a more idiotic place to build another school,” he said in a phone interview. 

On his way to the bus on 231st Street after picking up his daughter at nearby P.S. 37, Cleve Johnson voiced a similar view.

“It’s going to be very congested,” he said. “They’re definitely going to need crossing guards — at least three.”

International Leadership Charter High School, traffic, Bx1, Jeffrey Dinowitz, MTA, Shant Shahrigian
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