West Side Highway Speed Limit Will Drop, City Says

MANHATTAN, NY — A reduced speed limit will go into effect Saturday on portion of the West Side Highway as part of a city and state effort to improve safety on the busy urban highway, officials announced Thursday.

The change will reduce speed limits from 35-miles-per-hour to 30-miles-per-hour on Route 9A, a five-mile stretch that runs from Battery Place to West 59th Street, city officials said. Ten people have died in crashes on the stretch of highway in the past 10 years.

Increased ridership on the Hudson River Greenway and a development boom on the Hudson River waterfront has brought more pedestrians and bikers in conflict with cars on the West Side Highway in recent years, City Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said Thursday.

"It is quite clear that the old "West Side Highway" is now more boulevard than highway — and this new speed limit reflects that evolution," Trottenberg said in a statement.

Signs advertising the new speed limit will be installed Saturday, but drivers will have an adjustment period to adapt to the change, city officials said. Enforcement of the new speed limits will begin in about 60 days.

Route 9A is currently one of the most dangerous roads in New York City for both drivers and other street users, city officials said Thursday. The highway has one of the highest rates of crashes involving fatalities of serious injuries for motor vehicle occupants per mile in the city. In the past ten years, crashes have killed three pedestrians, two cyclists and five motor vehicle occupants on the stretch of road, city officials said.

In addition to the speed limit change, the city and state will work together to implement street safety measures such as longer crossing times for pedestrians, curb extensions and new traffic lights at some of the road's most dangerous intersections.

Speeding cameras will also be installed along portions of Route 9A on the West Side Highway as part of a citywide expansion of the Department of Transportation's speed camera program, city officials said.

"The West Side Highway in my Senate district is adjacent to neighborhoods of explosive population growth and one of the busiest parks in the nation. That’s why I’m glad that the New York State and New York City Department of Transportation are lowering the speed limit on the West Side Highway and enacting numerous other safety improvements that will protect pedestrians, cyclists and motorists," said State Senator Brad Hoylman said in a statement.