BRONX — The second phase of slow zones is launching with Jerome Avenue in The Bronx, part of the city's push to lower the number of pedestrian injuries and deaths.
The speed limit on a five-mile portion of the road between East 161st Street and Bainbridge Avenue is dropped by 5 mph on Monday as part of New York's Vision Zero initiative, a plan to end traffic injuries and fatalities in the city.
That section of the street saw five fatalities from 2008 to 2012, according to the New York City Department of Transportation.
The bulk of Jerome Avenue will go from 30 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour, but the stretch between West Gun Hill Road and Bainbridge Avenue will drop from 35 mph to 30 mph.
The second phase of slow zones includes 14 thoroughfares ranging from Park Avenue between East 45th Street and East 132nd streets in Manhattan to Victory Boulevard between Bay Street and Wild Avenue in Staten Island.
In November, the city plans to make nearly four miles of 3rd Avenue between East 138th Street and East 183rd Street in The Bronx a slow zone as well. Between 2008 and 2012, this section of the road saw four fatalities.
The city previously announced that it would implement slow zones at Grand Concourse from East 140th Street to Mosholu Parkway, Southern Boulevard from East Fordham Road to Bruckner Boulevard and East Gun Hill Road from Jerome Avenue to the Thruway.
READ MORE ABOUT BRONX SLOW ZONES:
►Speed Limit On Grand Concourse Dropping to 25 MPH
►Gun Hill Road and Southern Boulevard Getting Slow Zones
In addition to a lower speed limit, slow zones will also see increased enforcement from the NYPD, according to the DOT.
Several elected officials expressed support for New York's slow zone plans.
"I am pleased that the city will focus some of these efforts on Jerome Avenue and 3rd Avenue," said Congressman José Serrano in a statement.
"The signage, signal timing and speed limit changes that will occur along these busy thoroughfares will help create safer neighborhoods and a better quality of life for Bronxites."
Caroline Samponaro, a senior director at Transportation Alternatives, was happy with the slow zone plan.
"Certainly the biggest, widest streets are places where people are driving," she said. "But they're also places where people live, where people are walking."
