Left turn signal approved for
W. 231st & Riverdale Avenue
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, S 22 EPTEMBER 20-26, 2019 BTR
Assemblyman Jeffery Dinowitz joined by Concilman Andy Cohen and
Congressman Elliot Engel calling for a traffi c study of West 231st Street
and Riverdale Avenue. Assemblyman Jeffery Dinowitz’s offi ce
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The northwest Bronx
claimed a victory when the
NYC Department of Transportation
announced it
would install a left turn signal
for southbound traffic at
Riverdale Avenue and West
231st Street on Wednesday,
September 4.
The DOT agreed to intall
the traffic signal after Assemblyman
Jeffery Dinowitz
and Councilman Andy
Cohen demanded a study of
the intersections along Riverdale
Avenue up to West
236th Street, on Tuesday,
August 27.
“With so many new buildings
going up, including several
schools, we have seen
a marked increase in the
amount of pedestrian traffic
in recent years,” Dinowitz
said following his presser.
Those schools are mostly
just south along Riverdale
Avenue at West 230th Street,
such as the entrance to the
former JFK school campus,
which now hosts seven pub-
lic schools that seat over
1,000 students each, according
to Dinowitz’s office.
One the new high schools,
called International Leadership
Charter High School,
opened on the corner of West
231st Street just three years
ago.
“This intersection has
long been a problem, not
only for pedestrians but also
for drivers who are tired of
saying their prayers every
time they want to turn left
onto West 231st Street,” the
assemblyman continued.
The two elected officials
have been requesting increased
traffic safety measures
at this location for
years, according to Cohen.
When they started campaigning
for the improvements
in 2017, there were
131 accidents involving more
than 250 vehicles on that
stretch of roadway alone,
according to statistics obtained
by Dinowitz’s office
from the NYPD Vehicle Collision
data reports.
Nearly half of the accidents
took place at the intimidating
intersection of West
230th Street and Broadway,
where a multi-level shopping
center was recently constructed
and where an access
ramp to the Major Deegan
Expressway is located.
“This stretch of roadway
has had over a dozen accidents
since the beginning
of the year, so more must be
done,” Cohen said mentioning
that this call to action
came mostly from residents
more than it did from City
Hall.
“It is my hope that this
area will have leading indicator
lights, pedestrian islands,
increased cross walk
times, and more so that we
can stop all these close-call
situations,” Cohen continued.
In addition, Dinowitz and
Cohen criticized the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority’s
policy of removing
printed bus maps from all
the city’s bus stops.
The two penned a letter
to the MTA, saying that the
move is more “penny pinching
than efficient” on Tuesday,
September 10.
“At a time when we should
be expanding information
access to all bus riders, such
as adding modernized bus
maps and route frequency
information, it is very unfortunate
that the MTA has
decided to eliminate an essential
service for many of
their customers,” Dinowitz
said adding the move was
unfair to senior communities
because many of the elderly
don’t own smartphones
to research bus routes.
The MTA has not indicated
that it plans to restore
the bus maps at this time.