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DOT Gives Way on West Street The state’s Department of Transportation made a turnaround on West Street last month. The agency changed its plan to put two turn lanes on the southbound side at Warren Street as part of its reconstruction of Route 9A. The plan was fought by a Community Board 1 task force and local elected officials. “This is a very dangerous thing they were planning,” said Mike Nadel, a member of the task force that led a petition drive and held a rally in November. “I just never understood why they persisted for as long as they did.” While poring over the environmental impact study for the road reconstruction, Nadel discovered an alarming prediction: the added lanes would increase accidents at the intersection by 71 percent. The crossing is a popular one for P.S./I.S. 89 students and children going to the Battery Park City ballfields. Task force members also complained that the median would be narrowed by half, making it difficult for pedestrians, especially slower walkers or those with strollers, to make it to safety before the light changes. They found that the Warren Street intersection currently offered one of the safest crossing times in the area. “Nadel had me out there with him on a cold winter day measuring the timings of all the streets in the neighborhood,” said Bob Townley, another member of the Task Force. The DOT’s plan was meant to reduce the overall accident rate along the West Street corridor, especially easing the demands on intersections at Vesey and Liberty Streets when the World Trade Center site is developed. “The DOT is looking at a bunch of alternatives that do not endanger the safety of our children,” said CB1 chairwoman Julie Menin, who said she received the agency’s commitment after calling the governor’s office. A spokesman for the state DOT confirmed that the agency changed its plans and expects to discuss alternatives with community representatives this month. “The state looks at these things in broad strokes,” said Townley. “But when they looked at these blocks, I think we told them something they didn’t know.”
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