CB 10 turns down “road diet” for Fourth Avenue
After months of discussion and debate, a local advisory panel has flatly rejected the centerpiece of the city’s plan to make Fourth Avenue safer for pedestrians and cyclists, resoundingly voting in opposition to narrowing the roadway in two different segments.
On October 21, voting item by item, Community Board 10 approved some aspects of the Department of Transportation’s lengthy proposal during a meeting that lasted for four hours, but turned down DOT’s idea of shrinking Fourth Avenue from two lanes of moving traffic to one with left-turn bays added in both directions between 86th Street and Ovington Avenue, as well as DOT’s proposal to eliminate one lane of moving traffic northbound from 101st to 95th Street.
“Pedestrians have to be equally as responsible for their safety,” asserted board member Susan Romero. “Why are drivers the only ones who are penalized?”