LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Let's make Riverdale Avenue better

Posted

To the editor:

(re: “’Road diet’ would basically shut down Riverdale Avenue,” Jan. 4)

Community Board 8’s traffic and transportation committee chair Dan Padernacht’s claim that certain “road diet” elements contained in the Riverdale streetscape report would “close down Riverdale Avenue in many sections” is both misleading and alarming.

Padernacht claims “the roadway would be effectively shut down each time a car, delivery truck or bus double-parked in the traffic lane.” However, as the report itself cites, a lane reduction is, in fact, a potential solution to this already extant problem:

“DOT should study this issue. But the proposed idea would improve (not worsen) the ability of Riverdale and Mosholu to handle double-parking by creating wider traffic lanes and a parking buffer, thus removing double-parked vehicles from traffic lanes as now occurs.”

The report also suggests exploring lengthened bus pads and dedicated left turn lanes, which would further improve traffic flow and reduce driver conflict.

Then there’s safety. As Padernacht points out, there are numerous schools, institutions and businesses between West 254th Street and the city line. Furthermore, speeding is a major problem along this stretch, which is why P.S. 81 received some of the city’s first school zone speed cameras (96 percent of motorists were speeding past the school).

However, the cameras only begin to address the problem, as they are only operational during school hours, and outside of this window, children and families must fend for themselves. The current configuration facilitates dangerous driving and serves only to benefit motorists speeding between Henry Hudson Parkway and Yonkers, as anybody who crosses Riverdale Avenue on foot is well aware.

In his previous role as chair, Padernacht was dismissive of many elements of the DOT’s plans to improve the deadline Broadway corridor along Van Cortlandt Park, and it’s dismaying to see that he’s bringing the same retrograde attitude toward street design to his current role as chair of the traffic and transportation committee.

Instead of spreading misinformation about demonstrably life-saving infrastructure improvements, he should be helping community members understand why they’re often both necessary and desirable.

We deserve better streets, and by dismissing solid ideas for making them better, he’s short-changing the neighborhood.

Eben Weiss

Eben Weiss

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