Queens Residents Fed Up With Apparent Unsafe Dutch Kills Traffic Conditions
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Dangerous and chaotic are just two of the adjectives that residents and drivers have used to describe the roads and intersections in one Queens neighborhood. Now they want something done before somebody gets seriously hurt.
Just off of the Queensboro Bridge in the Dutch Kills section of Long Island City cars zip by and motorists shout at each other. Some cause accidents, while others take their driving off-road.
"Cars have jumped on the sidewalks. Cars have run stop signs. There are areas where there should be stop signs and cars just fly through and hit an oncoming vehicle," state Sen. Michael Gianaris told CBS 2's Jessica Schneider on Thursday.
Conditions have gotten so bad that residents have started snapping pictures of smashed up cars that were racing through the streets.
"There's so many cars going over to Manhattan and they take shortcuts through our neighborhood, and it's dangerous," Jean Cawley said.
Worried about the safety of her 5-year-old daughter, Jamie, Cawley said she is petitioning the Department of Transportation to put in stop signs and put traffic cops on patrol. Cawley said she has even sent officials video footage of a crash.
"A car accident that landed right on the sidewalk and could've killed somebody," Cawley said. "It's scary."
The Department of Transportation is working on safety enhancements in the area and said that it is "re-evaluating for additional stop signs and marking upgrades."
Community leaders said that's not enough.
"One of the problems we face with them is that they always wait until something bad happens before they take action," Sen. Gianaris said. "What we're saying is, we're on the ground, and we see bad things are coming unless something is done now."
The DOT said that it is examining the Queensboro Plaza area to see if there are additional ways to enhance safety. It said that it is also deploying street safety managers to the site as part of a citywide safety education program to promote shared responsibility for everyone using the streets.
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