As many of you may be aware, a new shopping complex called East River Plaza will be opening sometime in the next twelve months. This mall will provide over 500,000 square feet of retail space and parking for 1,250 cars, as well as significant truck and van traffic for store deliveries and pick-ups. The Plaza's operation will certainly change the nature and quantity of traffic around our school and the surrounding neighborhood. We can easily anticipate much more traffic on 116th Street between First Avenue and the FDR Drive, but we can also foresee substantially more traffic leaving First Avenue at 114th Street, cutting across the north side of Jefferson Park, and turning left onto Pleasant Avenue to pass by our school's front doors on the way to the mall.On Tuesday, December 2, the MCSM Parents' Association presented a letter (see below for full text) to the chair and vice-chair of Community Board 11's Transportation Committee at their public meeting that evening. The letter expressed, among other things, the PA Board's concerns about the lack of school zone signage, marked crosswalks, and traffic controls on Pleasant Avenue between 114th and 116th Streets. It is our hope that the opening of East River Plaza will provide an opportunity for us to obtain substantial traffic control and student safety improvements from the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) as they study the area and determine the types of traffic controls they will be installing.
We received a fully supportive hearing from the CB 11 Transportation Committee, whose members promised to arrange a follow-up meeting with a representative of the mall developer, DOT, and members of the local community such as residents of 117th Street. No date has been established yet for this meeting, but we will advertise it to MCSM parents when we have a firm date. Parents who wish more information or would like to be actively involved should contact Steve Koss by email at mathman180@aol.com.
The complete text of the letter from the PA Executive Board to CB 11 follows:
December 2, 2008
Mr. Derrick Taitt
Ms. Cora Shelton
Community Board 11
1664 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10035
Dear Mr. Taitt/Ms. Shelton,
We, the Executive Board of the Manhattan Center for Science & Mathematics High School (MCSM) Parents’ Association (PA), submit this letter to the Transportation Committee of Community Board 11 on behalf of the 1,650 students of MCSM and their parents as well as the 350 students of Isaac Newton Middle School (INMS) and their parents.
As you are aware, the neighborhood in the Pleasant Avenue area of East Harlem is today largely residential. Pleasant Avenue itself begins at 114th Street, at the north end of Thomas Jefferson Park, and runs to 120th Street, terminating alongside the P.S. 206 and River East Elementary Schools. The MCSM school building is located on the east side of Pleasant Avenue between 114th and 116th Streets, where its north side faces the planned East River Plaza shopping complex directly across 116th Street. Most students enter the school building between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. and leave between 3:00 and 4:00 pm. Many students who participate in after school programs such as sports and clubs do not leave until 5:30 or 6:00 pm. In addition, MCSM maintains an open campus, meaning that the majority of high school students leave the building during their lunch periods, running from approximately 11:00 am to 1:30 pm daily.
Traffic flows along 116th Street east of First Avenue are currently light to moderate, except during morning and evening rush hours when 116th Street provides a southbound exit/entrance from/onto the F.D.R. Drive. However, eventual completion of East River Plaza will likely substantially change the character and traffic flow in the entire Pleasant Avenue neighborhood from 114th to 118th Street and beyond. With over 500,000 square feet of retail space and parking for 1,250 vehicles, major change is inevitable.
We are aware that the NYC Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) has begun traffic surveys in the area, and it is our understanding from Mr. Josh Orzeck that D.O.T.’s traffic management plans will be presented for discussion at a future C.B. 11 Transportation Committee meeting. In the meantime, however, we would like to take this opportunity to express some of our major concerns and wishes related to signage and traffic flows now and once East River Plaza comes on stream, as follows:
1. At present, no yellow warning signs (such as school zone, student crossing, or slow) have been installed anywhere in the MCSM building area to indicate that drivers should reduce speed or at least be aware that children may be crossing.
2. The crosswalks in all four directions at 116th and Pleasant Avenue (both are two-way streets) have been so worn away over time as almost not to be visible.
3. The street light at 116th and Pleasant Avenue allows no Walk time when all traffic is stopped so students can cross.
4. Opening of East River Plaza will very likely lead to significant change in the traffic patterns along 114th Street (one way, eastbound) from First to Pleasant Avenues, and on Pleasant Avenue from at least 114th to 116th Streets, as northbound drivers look to “short cut” their way from 1st Avenue into the shopping center. There are no school zone or other warning signs on 114th Street, and the crosswalk at 114th Street and Pleasant Avenue (alongside Rao’s Restaurant) has been worn away nearly to invisibility. A Stop sign is in place at 114th and Pleasant Avenues, but it is routinely ignored by drivers.
5. Related to #4, there are no speed bumps or Stop signs in either the north- or southbound directions on Pleasant Avenue at 115th Street (directly across from the front door of the MCSM school building), nor are there any painted crosswalks leading from MCSM across to the beginning of 115th Street (one way, westbound).
6. We are not aware of the plans for how shoppers’ vehicles will enter and exit from East River Plaza, nor how box vans and tractor trailers will enter and exit for deliveries. These arrangements may further affect traffic flows along 116th Street and northward on Pleasant Avenue from 116th to 118th Streets and beyond in ways we cannot yet anticipate. We are also concerned that these vehicles may have a deleterious impact on air quality in a neighborhood already subject to high incidence of asthma and other respiratory conditions.
7. To whatever extent the new shopping complex includes fast food operations, students during their lunch periods may create a new pedestrian crossing of 116th Street mid-block between Pleasant Avenue and the F.D.R. Drive. This creates serious safety concerns in a high traffic, high speed area.
The items above are suggestive of our present concerns; others may arise as we obtain a better understanding of East River Plaza’s planned operation and the D.O.T.’s traffic management program.
We wish to thank the Transportation Committee of Community Board 11 in advance for its efforts and support in these matters. We ask that the Committee adopt a resolution calling for pedestrian safety initiatives and truck calming measures as part of any future development plans for East River Plaza. We also request that the MCSM/INMS parent community be notified in a timely manner when the D.O.T. finally brings the East River Plaza traffic management issue before the Committee so that the 2,000 students and their families can be represented in the discussion.
Sincerely,
Executive Board, MCSM Parents’ Association
Steve Koss, President
Deirdre Rose, Co-Vice President
Loisen Harris-Jacobs, Co-Vice President
Tara Joshua, Secretary
Nevis Almeida, Treasurer
No comments:
Post a Comment