City Must Fix Manhattan's 'Boulevard of Death,' Petition Says

CHINATOWN, NY — A petition launched Friday demands the city do something to calm traffic on Canal Street, which advocates call "Manhattan's Boulevard of Death."

Angry drivers on the constantly congested Lower Manhattan thoroughfare frequently ignore traffic signals and ignore pedestrians, leading to 13 traffic deaths since 2009 and more than 120 pedestrian and cyclist injuries since 2013, the transit advocacy group Transportation Alternatives says in its petition.

The group is seeking 10,000 signatures in support of traffic-calming measures along Canal Street to make it safer for the thousands of pedestrians, cyclists and business owners who travel the highway-like road every day.

"Businesses struggle to receive deliveries along the corridor. Workers have carry massive loads, on foot, in the middle of car traffic. People walking to shops and storefronts do not fit on the sidewalk, and are forced into harm's way," the petition reads.

Canal Street is home to some of the city's most dangerous intersections, according to the city Department of Transportation. Some 32 pedestrians were killed or severely injured from 2009 to 2013 on the 1.5-mile stretch between East Broadway and West Street, a 2015 DOT report says.

Cars going to and from the Manhattan Bridge and Holland Tunnel converge onto the seven-lane street, causing drivers to "overpower the vibrant foot traffic," Transportation Alternatives says.

Problems have persisted on Canal Street despite the city's Vision Zero campaign to reduce pedestrian deaths. Last year two people were killed near the Manhattan Bridge entrance at Canal Street and Bowery, even after the DOT spent $1.5 million to make it more pedestrian-friendly. More than 147 people were hurt at the crossing between 2010 and 2014, the DOT has said.

Transportation Alternatives supports adding widened medians, speed humps, bike lanes and extended sidewalks to slow cars down and make busy streets more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. The city implemented some of those measures at Canal and Bowery, and a short stretch of Canal Street has shared bike lanes. But the petition calls for the city to do more.

"New Yorkers are faced with a street that puts people's safety last," the petition says. "Our city cannot come to a halt on Canal Street."

Patch has reached out to the DOT for comment. We'll update this story if we hear back.

The department named Canal Street a "priority corridor" for its Vision Zero campaign in 2015. Other parts of Chinatown and the Lower East Side have seen traffic-calming projects, such as the widened, landscaped median on Allen and Pike streets.

The DOT has launched a traffic study of Canal Street and other thoroughfares near the Holland Tunnel that create congestion problems, according to the department's website. The study, scheduled to be completed this spring, will make recommendations for improving traffic flow and safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

(Lead image: Cars and taxis pile up on Canal Street in Chinatown in 2007. Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)