By Kathianne Boniello
More than two years after a Bayside boy was killed riding his bicycle near the Clearview Expressway service road, City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) has called for changes in how the city Department of Transportation evaluates traffic controls.
Christopher Scott, 11, was out with friends on Aug. 17, 2000 when he rode his bike across the 46th Avenue pedestrian bridge over the Clearview Expressway and approached the southbound expressway service road.
With nothing to slow traffic on the service road and no sidewalk or buffer between the overpass and the street, Christopher was accidentally killed when his bike — which was sticking out into the street — was hit by a car. Another child, John Shim, also 11, was killed in a similar 1994 accident at the site.
Since Christopher’s death, his family has fought for changes at the 46th Avenue pedestrian overpass. The city DOT banned bike riding on the bridge and installed striping and a traffic median to create a buffer zone between the overpass and cars, but the Scott family has continued to fight for a traffic light at 46th Avenue and the Clearview Expressway.
Legislation submitted to the City Council by Avella last week proposed requiring a traffic light or stop sign at every pedestrian overpass which exits directly onto a highway service road. Avella also put forth another bill to force the city DOT to create its own criteria for determining whether or not an intersection merits a traffic control.
The city DOT has done traffic studies of the area and said the intersection of 46th Avenue and the Clearview Expressway service road does not meet the federal standards the agency uses as guidelines for traffic control installment.
“I’m sure there are other pedestrian overpasses in the city that are exactly the same as 46th Avenue and the Clearview Expressway service road,” said Avella, who also has pushed for a resolution from the City Council to the state Legislature urging the state to require insurance companies to share accident statistics with the city DOT.
“Traffic has become a nightmare,” said Avella, who added that between 12 and 15 Council members already have pledged to support the bill.
The councilman, whose district stretches from Whitestone and College Point through Bayside and into Douglaston and Little Neck, said it is time the city used its own guidelines for installing traffic controls.
“The federal formulas are too complicated and out of date,” he said. “There should be a system where we know exactly what the calculations are.”
Christopher’s grandmother, Bayside activist Loretta Napier, praised Avella for introducing the measures.
“I’m so happy Tony Avella, with some of his colleagues, has taken this on,” she said. “We really need a traffic light. Second to that should only be a four-way stop sign.”
While Christopher’s family has not been able to have a traffic light or stop sign installed at the 46th Avenue pedestrian overpass, the family did have the overpass named “Christopher’s Crossing,” a measure passed in the state Legislature by state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) and state Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret Carrozza (D-Bayside).
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
