Call Roosevelt the ‘Avenue of Accidents’

Queens Boulevard may be the “Boulevard of Death,” but an advocacy group has set its sights on other Queens roadways in dire need of pedestrian safety improvements.
In particular, the group, called Transportation Alternatives, highlighted Roosevelt Avenue after 74 pedestrians were injured and two killed in 2004 on the street, which stretches from Flushing to Sunnyside.
“Queens Boulevard has come under scrutiny before as being really unsafe for pedestrians in the campaigns that we have worked on in years’ past,” said Transportation Alternatives spokesperson Brooke DuBose, explaining that the City has made “significant” pedestrian improvements along Queens Boulevard over the past few years.
“That corridor [Roosevelt Avenue] has not really received any improvement,” DuBose said.
The group found that 50 percent of accidents occurred at only 10 percent of the city’s intersections, including several located along Roosevelt Avenue. In response, hundreds of local residents rallied at City Hall on Sunday, March 4, demanding that pedestrian safety be improved.
Transportation Alternatives called on the City to prioritize fixes at the most dangerous roadways by including pedestrian safety devices in yearly maintenance work, eliminating conflicts between turning cars and walkers at busy corners, and adding extra safety precautions in areas with a lot of senior citizens and children.
In addition, the group has demanded that the City investigate fatal accidents more rigorously, to convene a task force of city and state politicians to look at ways to strengthen laws against drivers involved in fatal accidents, and to publish a multi-agency study of pedestrian fatalities since 1995.
By instituting a series of changes, the group believes that the City can lower last year’s total of pedestrian injuries, which Transportation Alternatives has listed at more than 10,000.
From 1995 to 2004, 541 pedestrians were injured on Roosevelt Avenue - 42 at Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street, 21 at 82nd Street, 22 at 74th Street, and 24 at 61st Street, an analysis of Transportation Alternatives’ data found. In total, nine people were killed along Roosevelt Avenue during the nine-year period.
Citywide, the group estimates that 166 pedestrians were killed last year, up from 156 in both 2005 and 2004.
However, the Department of Transportation (DOT) said that their tally of last year’s pedestrian fatalities - 163 - is one of the lowest figures in years. DOT spokesperson Ted Timbers said that the 2005 and 2004 fatality tally was the lowest since 1910. The highest figure came in 1929 when 952 pedestrians were killed citywide.