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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Mover and Shaker Jessica Lappin on Complete Streets!

From Jessica, our Mover and Shaker:
http://www.whomyouknow.com/2009/03/movers-and-shakers-jessica-lappin-new.html 

New York City is a city of walkers.  Whether it’s heading to the subway, going to the grocery store, or just going for a stroll in the park, we are a city of pedestrians.  That’s why I launched an initiative last spring with AARP called Complete Streets with the goal of making our streets safer. 

The Complete Streets effort worked to send volunteers out to survey the most dangerous intersections in every borough.  It empowered citizens to take back their own streets and find ways to reconfigure them and make them safer.  I’m proud to say that some of the results of those surveys were incorporated into the city’s first-ever Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan, released yesterday.  The action plan calls for a pilot program to reduce speed limits to 20 m.p.h in some residential neighborhoods, redesigning streets to reduce pedestrian accidents, and the installation of crosswalk countdown timers at 1,500 intersections.  The installation of those timers is set to begin this month.

Street safety is of particular importance to senior citizens, who may have an especially hard time crossing dangerous intersections.  In fact, this is the third most dangerous city in the United States for senior pedestrians.

But if a corner is dangerous for seniors, it’s dangerous for children and everyone else in between.  Last year, 256 pedestrians were killed by cars in New York .  Over 10,000 pedestrians were injured.  These deaths and injuries cut across all demographics.  Everyone is affected by the safety of our streets.

I’ve also introduced Trafficstat legislation to increase the transparency of traffic accident data.  We’ve had a hearing in the Public Safety Committee on that bill.  This is an extremely important issue and that’s why I was proud to stand with the Mayor to announce the release of the Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan.  This report is more than just statistics. It also comes with a commitment from the City to take real action toward making our streets safer.

You can click here for more information about the Pedestrian Safety study, including key findings and the action plan.

These are our streets.  We all use them.  We need them to be safer.

Sincerely,
Jessica Lappin

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