Soho Turn Ban Will Cause Chaos For Emergency Responders: Locals

LITTLE ITALY, NY — Transit officials have opted to keep Kenmare Street a two-way road during the 15-month L train shutdown after residents railed against the alternative. But the Department of Transportation still aims to ban left turns from Lafayette Street onto Kenmare, and residents say the move overlooks how the change will impact fire engines and ambulances responding to emergencies in the neighborhood.

“It’s appalling,” said long-time Little Italy resident Georgette Fleischer, who lives a block from the proposed changes. “There's a huge concern about any kind of emergency first responders getting to residents as quickly as possible, and this change doesn't help that — it just doesn’t make sense.”

The Department of Transportation and the MTA plan to run four new bus routes connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn during the L train shutdown. Two of the routes will roll along Kenmare Street — a two-way continuation of the six-lane Delancey Street corridor — and then take a tight turn onto Cleveland Place before continuing onto the Soho-Little Italy loop.

Transit officials presented residents with a pair of reconfigurations for Kenmare Street to add a dedicated bus lane, including one that looked to scrap eastbound traffic from the street entirely. After a volley of concerns from locals, the city has chosen to keep traffic lanes traveling in each direction on the southern side of the street, with a bus lane and a parking or loading lane on the north side, announced Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg at a recent town hall on the shutdown.

"Kenmare is a challenging street. We are really believing you," Trottenberg told the packed East Village town hall. "I think we’ve now reached something of a consensus, it will be two-way with that dedicated bus lane — leaving parking and loading for businesses and buildings that need it."

Traffic on Kenmare Street (Photo courtesy of Caroline Spivack/Patch)

But transit officials still plan to restrict left turns from Lafayette Street onto Kenmare and add pedestrian space at Lt. Petrosino Square, in response to concerns that turning traffic often veers into the westbound lane to make the sharp turn more easily.

Yet Fleischer and other residents are not convinced that eliminating the turn altogether is the best option for the neighborhood.

"There was a gas leak in my building the other day and FDNY from ladder 20 were able to get here fairly quickly precisely because of that turn," said Fleischer, who is the president of Friends of Lt. Petrosino Square, which Kenmare Street abuts. "Without that turn the route to get to us becomes convoluted."

Others fail to see how eliminating the turn is necessary to improve the bus routes running through Little Italy during the L shutdown.

"Frankly, I don't even see why the city is messing with this turn when keeping it the way it is would have a very minimal impact — if any — on the bus routes," said Margret Turman, who lives on Kenmare near Mulberry Street with her husband and 3-year-old son. "Minutes make a difference in case of an emergency and if there's a chance that this could make things harder for first responders, then I think the city needs to reconsider this."

The Department of Transportation maintains that the proposal for the turning ban came out of meeting with locals and that the agency will work with the fire department as the street configuration is finalized.

"After meeting with the community, DOT has proposed a left turn ban from Lafayette Street onto Kenmare Street in order to limit wrong-way driving movements," said Alana Morales, a spokeswoman with the Department of Transportation. "We will coordinate with FDNY on emergency access and will continue to work with them as we finalize the design."

FDNY did not immediately response to a request for comment.

Lead photo of FDNY ambulance (Photo courtesy of David Allen/Patch)