Bronx residents concerned about drivers ignoring stop signs, lack of safe crosswalks in Belmont & West Farms
NEW YORK - Several intersections in the Bronx are causing concerns for residents and a community board, that has been pushing the city for immediate changes for years.
One car after another, drivers roll through the stop signs on East 188th Street and Lorillard Place in Belmont.
"Any day of the week, someone can get hurt or killed, and this is not something we should go through any longer," said Jeff Vargon, a resident who lives nearby.
Vargon says issues at the intersection continue to get worse. He says his neighbor was hit by a driver speeding through a stop sign a few years ago.
"You used to be able to walk around here any hour of the day and you would be perfectly safe. Now it's a question of dodging speeding vehicles," said Vargon.
The Community Board and DOT tell CBS New York the intersection doesn't warrant a traffic light because it doesn't meet certain criteria.
With a timer going, CBS New York's Shosh Bedrosian counted how many vehicles went through the intersection from 3-3:30 p.m. She counted 56 different vehicles either make a rolling stop through the stop sign or going right through it.
"It's a concern for us that drivers aren't following the rules and making it dangerous for pedestrians, but that's a concern for us all across our district," said Rafael Moure-Punnett, the Community Board 6 District Manager. He also says the intersection of East Tremont and Devoe avenues is another location of concern.
"It's not safe for pedestrians to get across because you can't quite get across with one traffic signal, and you're stuck in the median or you're rushing in front of cars," said Moure-Punnett.
The Community Board says in the last 15 years, there's been upwards of 200 incidents there, citing poorly painted and lengthy pedestrian crosswalks as an issue. They say DOT secured funding to reconstruct the intersection years ago, but nothing has been done yet.
"The city doesn't care if you die in a traffic crash here. It'll take them 15 years to build out a new intersection," said Moure-Punnett.
DOT tells CBS New York in a statement: "Due to complicated design and jurisdictional issues, this multi-agency work has been delayed for too long, and the West Farms community deserves a completed project. The City's inter-agency team acknowledges that this process took too long, and we intend to start construction next year."
"We have a bunch of long-term traffic projects that have been stuck," said Moure-Punnett.
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