When a loyal reader wrote us about new posts clogging up traffic crossing Queens Boulevard where 83rd and Hoover avenues meet, above, the Chronicle went to the scene.
The posts are set too far into the street, the resident wrote, preventing cars headed straight across the boulevard from going around those that have to stop to make a left. Thus traffic on 83rd Avenue, second photo, is getting backed up all the way to Kew Gardens Road, making things more dangerous for children going to PS 99 [see Letters to the Editor].
The delineators, which are popping up all over, are meant to protect pedestrians and calm traffic. But the ones on the boulevard at 83rd and Hoover take up space that had been actively used by cars, and the writer suggested the city Department of Transportation go back to the drawing board.
Then on Tuesday morning as the snow fell, at least one motorist drove right over the crosswalk to get around them — right in front of the courthouse, no less.
Shown the top photo, a city Department of Transportation spokesman said via email, “Last year New York City had the second fewest pedestrian fatalities on record thanks to street improvements that prioritize safety. Anyone who drives in a crosswalk or other pedestrian space should be ashamed and held accountable for endangering others.”
