Make Traffic Study Mandatory For New Daycares: Bayside Senator

BAYSIDE, QUEENS -- Daycare providers looking to make a home in New York could soon face an extra hurdle under a Bayside lawmaker's new bill that would make a traffic study mandatory to get a license.

At his Bayside office Friday, State Sen. Tony Avella unveiled his posed legislation that would require the New York Department of Transportation to conduct a traffic study on any daycare center that applies for a state license.

The bill would require the study within 90 days of a daycare center's application to gauge factors such as the posed area's traffic flow, availability of a safe drop-off and pickup space, crime rates and frequency of speeding, Avella said.

Under the legislation, which Avella plans to introduce in January, the daycare center's application could be denied if the study deems its posed area unsafe or unsuitable for traffic flow.

Avella said he posed the bill after "numerous" constituents complained to him of new daycare centers' pickup and drop-off spaces causing traffic problems. He noted police who have "much better things to do" have instead been called for traffic control to at least one such location.

“This legislation is aimed to address two issues: Safety of the children at daycare centers and the quality of life of residents near new daycare centers,” Avella said.

“The negative safety and quality of life impacts of traffic and congestion due to some of the centers in unbelievable."

His announcement was backed by a handful of community groups, including the Northwest Bayside Civic Association and the Queens Civic Congress, whose leaders called traffic surrounding some of the neighborhood's new daycares "a serious problem."

"Something has to be done so people can get in to and out of the daycare centers safely," said NBCA member Marty Stein.

Lead photo courtesy of the Office of Senator Tony Avella