Traffic safety measures added at Williamsburg intersection where 9-year-old was killed by bus
NYPD traffic officers are now stationed daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the five-way intersection where Lee Avenue, Lorimer Street and Wallabout Street meet.
New safety measures are now in place at a busy Williamsburg intersection where a 9-year-old boy was struck and killed by a turning school bus.
NYPD traffic officers are now stationed daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the five-way intersection where Lee Avenue, Lorimer Street and Wallabout Street meet.
The changes come after 9-year-old Yoel Jacobowitz was fatally hit by a yellow school bus on Friday morning.
The city also repainted crosswalk markings at the intersection Monday.
The area had recently been repaved as part of an ongoing capital safety project by the Department of Transportation, but the street markings had not yet been repainted.
Council Member Lincoln Restler said he pushed the DOT to speed up the work following the crash.
“And I’m grateful that the team from DOT and their contractors are out this morning to get that work done,” Restler said. “There’s more that we need to do here to make this intersection safer.”
Restler said he is also urging the city to consider additional safety upgrades, including a “Barnes dance,” also known as a pedestrian scramble, which stops traffic in all directions to allow pedestrians to cross at the same time.
Pedestrians in the neighborhood said the intersection has been dangerous for a long time.
“It’s sad that a little boy had to be killed in order for there to be two crossing guards now,” one resident said.
The DOT said the intersection’s redesign would slow turning vehicles and make crossings shorter and safer with new curb extensions and a pedestrian island.
Restler said he is also working with community leaders and the DOT on additional ways to improve safety in the area, including education efforts aimed at pedestrians, students and bus drivers.
