STATEN ISLAND — The city will install left-turn signals at three busy intersections across the borough to make them safer, Councilman Steven Matteo announced.
The Department of Transportation plans to add the signals in the spring to try and improve traffic flow and protect pedestrians after several requests from Matteo.
"They are a common sense, relatively simple and inexpensive fix to traffic problems that have plagued our crowded roads for years, which is why I have consistently advocated for them," Matteo said in a statement.
"I have always believed that improving safety and traffic flow requires a local, block by block, intersection by intersection approach, and I will continue to work with DOT and other city agencies toward that end."
The turn signals will be added to the intersections of Hylan Boulevard and Guyon Avenue in both directions, Forest and Jewett avenues in both directions and in the southbound direction of traffic at Richmond Road and Buel Avenue.
A 2016 study by the DOT found that left turns, which account for 19 percent of pedestrian deaths across the city, were more dangerous than right turns, which account for 6 percent.
Matteo has so far made 35 turn-signal requests to the city, with eight being approved.
He's also asked the agency to study the expansion of left turn bays — lanes dedicated to make the turns — at several intersections.
The DOT study found that the bays decrease pedestrian and bicycle injuries by 15 percent.
