HELL’S KITCHEN — Vehicles speeding near Manhattan Plaza have turned the area into a “raceway,” the complex’s residents say.
Community Board 4’s transportation committee recently penned a letter asking the Department of Transportation to consider implementing a “neighborhood slow zone” between West 42nd and West 50th streets from Ninth to 11th avenues.
Residents approached the board for help with curtailing traffic troubles last month, Manhattan Plaza Tenants Association president Douglas Leland said Monday.
“Forty-third Street… from Eighth Avenue down to the river has become a raceway,” he said.
“We’re seeing cars and trucks speeding at 40, 50 miles an hour between Ninth and 10th avenues, and 10th and 11th avenues, which is putting everybody’s safety in jeopardy.”
As part of the requested slow zone, Board 4 has asked the DOT to consider installing a speed bump or raised crossing in front of Manhattan Plaza at West 43rd Street between Ninth and 10th avenues, in addition to pedestrian-friendly signals for right turns onto 10th Avenue from West 42nd and 43rd streets, the letter said.
Residents have also had problems crossing West 42nd Street at Dyer Avenue because of congestion at the intersection, the letter noted.
“DOT should study pedestrian safety measures and street design treatments throughout this dense residential area,” the board wrote.
The area has seen “a large increase in pedestrian traffic in recent years,” it added.
West 43rd Street in particular “has become the main thoroughfare to get down to the Hudson, to the Intrepid [Museum], to the cruise lines,” Leland added.
“I just simply want to see the block become safer,” he said. “I don’t want to see somebody killed on the street.”
The DOT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
