Traffic & Transit

Hell's Kitchen Avenue One Of Deadliest Streets In US, Study Says

Neighbors have long pushed for safety fixes on Ninth Avenue — one of the nation's worst streets for walkers, according to a study.

Ninth Avenue between West 36th and 48th streets had nine pedestrian deaths between 2001 and 2016, making it one of the nation's deadliest streets. Advocates have long pushed to redesign it.
Ninth Avenue between West 36th and 48th streets had nine pedestrian deaths between 2001 and 2016, making it one of the nation's deadliest streets. Advocates have long pushed to redesign it. (Google Maps)

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — A Hell's Kitchen avenue that has long been under scrutiny due to safety concerns has a new, unfortunate honor: it's one of the most dangerous streets in the nation for pedestrians, according to a recent study.

The report, published earlier this year in the Journal of Transport and Land Use, identified dozens of "hot spots" across the U.S. where at least six pedestrians lost their lives between 2001 and 2016, when the most recent federal data was available.

Among the worst spots: Ninth Avenue between West 36th and 48th streets, where nine people were killed during that 18-year span. That made it the sixth-most deadly street in New York, alongside sections of thoroughfares like Canal Street, Bowery and Brighton Beach Avenue in Brooklyn.

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The findings may come as no surprise to residents of Hell's Kitchen. As far back as 2008 and as recently as last June, Community Board 4 has pressed the city to protect pedestrians on Ninth Avenue, going as far as commissioning an expert report last year to study the possibility of adding curb extensions at four corners.


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The neighborhood group CHEKPEDS, too, was founded in 2005 to "reclaim 9th Avenue from the hellish Lincoln Tunnel traffic," according to its website.

"It is heartbreaking to still 'make the list' after so many years of advocacy," group founder Christine Berthet said in an email. The only "redeeming feature," she said, is that fatalities have decreased in frequency in recent years.

Their fight has won other victories: bike lanes and left-turn pockets were added in 2011, crossing times have been increased at a few intersections, and buses have been rerouted away from the avenue.

Still, more recent data shows that crashes have continued on Ninth Avenue past the study's 2016 terminus. According to the city's Vision Zero data, there have been 30 crashes between West 36th and 48th streets since 2016, each of which left a pedestrian injured.

"It is clear that DOT must make intersections much safer on those stretches and widen the sidewalks to absorb the significant volume of pedestrians," Berthet said.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Arizona State University and the planning firm Toole Design Group. It was first reported on by Streetsblog, who said it may be "the only attempt to map the U.S. corridors with the highest numbers of pedestrian deaths ever conducted."

Authors found that pedestrian fatalities are "at their highest level in nearly three decades" and make up an increasing share of total traffic deaths.

"To achieve the vision of a future transportation system that produces zero deaths, pedestrian safety must be improved," they wrote.

Almost all of the "hot spots" identified in the study are multi-lane roads, most of which force pedestrians to cross at least five lanes of traffic. Most bordered low-income neighborhoods.


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