The city plans to expand a program that reduces speed limits in certain residential neighborhoods to 13 new areas as it continues its efforts to make streets safer for New Yorkers.
The Neighborhood Slow Zone program, first implemented in Claremont in 2011, reduces speed limits in designated residential areas to 20 mph from 30 mph and employs other measures to improve safety, the city says.
Mayor Bloomberg and Bloomberg and Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan credit the program with helping reduce the number of traffic fatalities, which hit its lowest levels in recorded history last year, city statistics show.
The new Slow Zone locations, which currently are in the design-and-approval process, were all initially requested by local applicants and were evaluated based on crash history, community support, proximity of schools, senior centers and daycare centers, among other criteria, the city said.
The 13 locations preliminarily selected for the Slow Zone program are Mt. Eden, Baychester, Eastchester and Riverdale in the Bronx; Boerum Hill in Brooklyn; Inwood in Northern Manhattan; Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights/East Elmhurst and Auburndale in Queens; and New Brighton/St. George, Dongan Hills and Rosebank on Staten Island.
Slow Zones are marked by a prominent blue gateway at all streets entering the area, with signs noting the 20 miles per hour speed limit, and with speed bumps and the stenciling of "20 MPH" eight-foot-long letters on the street to make clear that motorists are in a reduced speed area.
"We’ve driven fatalities and injuries down to record lows through innovative traffic engineering, aggressive enforcement and an unwavering commitment to finding new ways to make our streets safer, as even one fatality is too many," Bloomberg said.
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