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Pol Wants Intersection Studied After Woman is Killed by Bus

By Katie Honan | February 5, 2014 9:20am
 A memorial was put up to honor the 25-year-old victim who was hit and killed by a Q53 bus on Monday evening.
A memorial was put up to honor the 25-year-old victim who was hit and killed by a Q53 bus on Monday evening.
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DNAinfo/Katie Honan

JACKSON HEIGHTS —  A local politician is calling on the city to examine a busy intersection after a woman was struck and killed by a city bus there Monday night.

Councilman Danny Dromm said the Department of Transportation should look into ways to make the intersection of Roosevelt Avenue and Broadway safer for pedestrians, as they did years ago following crashes at other Jackson Heights crossings.

A 25-year-old woman, identified Tuesday as Martha Tibillin-Guamug of The Bronx, was struck and killed by a Q53 bus as it made a right turn south onto Broadway from Roosevelt Avenue Monday evening, according to the FDNY.

No criminality was suspected.

Dromm said the nearby bustling transit hub, and the lack of a traffic light at nearby 74th Street and Broadway, makes it very dangerous.

"I would like to see some lights there," he said.

He'd said he'd also like the sidewalk near the entrance to the E, F, M and R trains on Broadway to be widened.

"I want to examine all the possibilities," he said.

In 2011, the Department of Transportation unveiled a list of recommendations to increase pedestrian safety and reduce congestion in its Jackson Heights Neighborhood Transportation Study.

A spokesman for the DOT said a result of the study, which focused on the streets north of Roosevelt Avenue, the agency created new street markings, wider crosswalks, and turn restrictions along Broadway, Roosevelt Avenue and 73rd and 74th streets.

The DOT also built Diversity Plaza as a result, Dromm said.

"We welcome further input from any elected officials and members of the community on additional potential improvements," the DOT spokesman said.

While the agency has made great improvements in pedestrian safety Jackson Heights, Dromm said, the latest accident shows there's more work that needs to be done.

"I want to go back and see what we can do to make Broadway and 74th Street a little safer," he said.