Lower Manhattan pedestrians are about to get some help crossing busy West Street.

Next month, traffic management consultants Sam Schwartz Engineering are expected to put crossing guards at three West Street intersections: Warren, Murray and Albany Streets.  The Schwartz company is in charge of a system now in place for shepherding masses of workers, residents and tourists across Church Street near the World Trade Center site.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s office announced on Friday that the Battery Park City Authority will oversee a contract with Schwartz’ firm—to be funded by a $1.2 million allocation from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. (Although a request for proposals will be issued, officials expect Schwartz to be the only bidder.)

“This will absolutely save lives,” said Silver’s chief of staff Judy Rapfogel, speaking at a meeting of Silver’s West Street Task Force. Silver began pushing for better pedestrian safeguards along West Street earlier this year, in anticipation of P.S. 276 opening in September in southern Battery Park City. The street’s safety became an issue during school zoning debates that raged over the course of several months, with some parents saying their families would be at risk if they had to cross West Street to get to school.

In a statement, Silver said he expected the crossing guards to be on the job “in a matter of weeks.”

Until a long-term contract is in place, a spokeswoman for the Battery Park City Authority said Schwartz’ employees would begin their work on West Street by the beginning of June, under the terms of the company’s existing on-call contract with the Authority. Sam Schwartz Engineering has been on retainer for the Authority since November for a variety of traffic engineering tasks, including pedestrian studies tied to the recent push for a new footbridge over West Street at West Thames.

James Cavanaugh, president of the Authority, said during Friday’s meeting that the agency will seek to put Schwartz’ crossing guards—all former city and Port Authority police officers, called “pedestrian managers”—at the three intersections. West Thames Street, he said, also may be included in the plan if studies show they are warranted. Initially, the crossing guards would be on the job from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Cavanaugh said its contract with Schwartz allows those days and times to change as needed. 

“Right now, we’re not sure the volumes of people on the weekends really warrant [pedestrian managers],” Cavanaugh said.

“Eventually you learn the right system,” Robert Phillips, Sam Schwartz Engineering’s chief operating officer, told the Trib in an interview in March. Phillips, through a Schwartz spokesman, said he would not comment on upcoming plans until they are worked out with the Authority.

In March, representatives from the Schwartz firm presented Silver’s task force with three more extensive staffing options for “managing” pedestrians. Every option presumed that five intersections—including Chambers, Warren, Murray, Albany and West Thames Streets—would be staffed for 12 hours on weekdays, eight hours on weekends. The most intensive plan would have cost $2 million a year for 30 crossing guards and a supervisor. The cheapest option presented, at $1.15 million, would have paid for 18 guards and a supervisor.