2 Hell's Kitchen Intersections Plagued By Speeding, Study Finds

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — Nearly a third of drivers at two busy Hell's Kitchen intersections exceed the speed limit, according to a new study by a street-safety group.

On West 45th Street at Ninth and 10th Avenues, 30 percent of drivers exceeded the city's 25 mph speed limit during a two-hour period in mid-May, according to the report by Transportation Alternatives, which used radar guns to measure speeds there and at four more intersections in other boroughs.

The resulting report, "Too Fast, Too Furious," calls for the city to seize local control over speed limits from the state, which currently sets them. A set of bills that would do just that are sponsored by two of Hell's Kitchen's state lawmakers: State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblymember Richard Gottfried.

The report also includes a new poll of New York City voters conducted by Emerson College, which found 72 percent support for the city taking control of speed limits. Meanwhile, 68 percent of those surveyed said they would support lowering the city's speed limit to 20 mph on residential streets near their homes.

"Every mile of road with a lower speed limit is a safer mile for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers," Hoylman said in a statement. "Our legislation ... would allow the City to further reduce traffic speed — a proven way to make our streets less dangerous."

Manhattan streets were deadly this spring

The two Hell's Kitchen intersections, along with others studied in the report, were chosen based on "anecdotal reports of speeding as well as crash data," researchers wrote.

Here’s how speeding among the 1,600+ drivers we observed broke down by borough:

46% speeding in Brooklyn
52% speeding in the Bronx
73% speeding in Queens
30% speeding in Manhattan
94% speeding on Staten Island

More data: https://t.co/yT3PMF2aTe pic.twitter.com/Pb5uHOsbLS
— Transportation Alternatives (@TransAlt) June 3, 2021

Ninth and 10th avenues at West 45th Street are both along Vision Zero priority corridors, designated by the city for their high rates of crashes. Since 2014, 429 cyclists and 21 pedestrians have been injured in crashes in Hell's Kitchen, city data shows.

Fifteen schools are within a mile of the intersections — including 10 serving elementary-age children — and 89 percent of people who live within a half-mile commute by public transit, walking or biking.

In April, more people were killed in Manhattan traffic crashes than in any month since the city launched Vision Zero in 2014, the report found.

Rates of speeding were even higher at the intersections studied in other boroughs. On Staten Island, a whopping 94 percent of drivers exceeded the speed limit at Slosson Avenue at Martling Avenue, while 73 percent of drivers were seen speeding at a Queens intersection near Long Island City.

Transportation Alternatives — which advocates on behalf of pedestrian and bicyclists — argues that lower speed limits produce marked safety improvements. When the city's speed limit was lowered from 30 to 25 mph in 2014, pedestrian deaths fell by 25 percent.