NYS Department of Transportation To Install Barriers On Bronx River Parkway

The New York State Department of Transportation has begun installing new concrete barriers along the stretch of the Bronx River Parkway where seven people were killed when their vehicle careened off the viaduct and crashed more than 60 feet to the ground. Two other segments along the Parkway will get similar treatment.

The 2-foot, 8-inch concrete slabs will be placed on the righthand side of the travel lanes to block a vehicle from continuing on toward the existing fence and vaulting off the elevated roadway.

The barriers will be the same as the concrete median that separates northbound and southbound traffic lanes on the parkway.

Work began Wednesday morning.

The barriers will go up on the viaduct over the Bronx Zoo and two others that cross over East Tremont Ave. and the Amtrak tracks.

State Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald said her agency “shares community concerns about the safety of the Bronx River Parkway.”

It's better late than never, and it is far too sad to consider that these developments would not have occurred had seven people not been killed when their vehicle careened over the side of a viaduct on the Bronx River Parkway.

Yet, I can't help but be concerned that the addition of the concrete barrier will actually make things worse - narrowing the already narrow lanes even further. From how the report is worded, the new barriers will actually sit inside the concrete curb that helped fling the vehicle into the air rather than atop the curb - making it more unlikely that a vehicle could overtop the safety barriers and crash to the ground below.

Also, why did it take this particular accident to get action when there was similar crashes along this same stretch over the past several years that highlighted the importance of improving the safety barriers.

Obsolete and Dangerous Infrastructure Contributed To Deadly Bronx River Parkway Crash

Over the weekend there was a deadly accident on the Bronx River Parkway adjacent to the Bronx Zoo. Seven people were killed when their vehicle somehow managed to cross four lanes of traffic and over the side barrier and crashed more than 60 feet below into a storage yard at the zoo.

Local politicians are clamoring for action and wondering why the elevated section has high curbs and insufficiently high railings to prevent vehicles from careening off the roadway.

A perfect storm of factors — including a measly 4-foot guardrail and a concrete curb bizarrely placed along a section of the Bronx River Parkway — could have contributed to the crash that killed seven relatives there Sunday, experts said.

“Highways are not supposed to have curbs,” said Robert Sinclair, spokesman for AAA New York, referring to the 2-foot-high ledge along the right side of the highway that the SUV struck, sending it over the guardrail before it plunged 60 feet onto Bronx Zoo turf.

“And not only is there a curb there, [but] it’s particularly high,” he said.
In addition, the guardrail “would need to be higher for that area because you’re trying to keep vehicles from flying off because of the 60-foot drop. And you’ve got that catapulting curb there.”

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. also zeroed in on the 4-foot-high rails, calling for state officials to reassess their height in that spot.

“I believe strongly if the railing was higher, at the very worst we would have had a very bad car accident and not a vehicle going over and killing seven,’’ Diaz said.
“We [need] them at least 10 feet or more so this doesn’t happen again.’’

He said he also asked authorities, “Why is the rest of the parkway always smooth and [in] the elevated portion there is always potholes?”

There are indeed a host of reasons why this roadway is so dangerous - and those reasons aren't confined to the Bronx River Parkway viaduct in question.

The same issues can be raised of a stretch of the Cross Bronx Expressway where the viaduct seems to roll up and down by several feet - especially in and around the expansion joints and the drains along the center of the highway. It is all too easy for a vehicle to lose control under those circumstances.

It comes down to the fact that many highways in the area, and indeed around the nation, are obsolete and need major reconstruction or repair to bring them up to a state of good repair. Patching potholes on these structures is a temporary fix - it would take a reconstruction to provide a significant upgrade to the facilities.

However, there are some fixes that could improve safety along the Bronx River Parkway - though drivers might not necessarily like it.

Reduce the number of lanes of traffic from three to two in each direction and provide a breakdown lane that can give drivers a chance to correct themselves. Work should not have to wait until the next decade to reconstruct the highway. This is a stretch that has already taken lives due to poor and obsolete design. We shouldn't have to see more lives lost on this stretch due to the fact that the money can't be found sooner to rebuild the highway so that it is safer for all who use it.

This horrific tale once again highlights the need to maintain and upgrade existing infrastructure to current design standards to reduce the chances for deadly accidents that could be prevented using modern design techniques that keep vehicles on elevated structures and eliminate obstacles that could launch vehicles over the side.

Drop the Hammer on NJ State Police For "Death Race 2012" Actions

Governor Chris Christie has to do more, much more, than shrug his shoulders over the alleged misdeed by New Jersey state troopers who escorted drivers of several high end cars along the Garden State Parkway. Those drivers include former New York Giant Brandon Jacobs who apparently asked for the escort in the first place.

Two state troopers have been suspended thus far, and while the State Police Commissioner is trying to limit the damage by claiming the actions are isolated to only one command, the fact is that the state police engage in hundreds of escorts each year. There's no breakdown of the kind of escorts or whether private parties are requesting escorts, but escorts can involve any of the following: high-profile funerals, dignitaries, to help the U.S. Secret Service or for any large amount of traffic that might impede the flow of a highway.

In his first appearance since revelations of the caravans emerged Sunday, Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes also said troopers perform hundreds of escorts every year, but refused to say if those could include private groups of luxury cars, calling the question a "hypothetical."
"The permission is given at local command," Fuentes said after a hearing in Trenton. "And so we entrust our local command to authorize those escorts." He added he was unaware of the escorts before they happened and, "I hate for this to be a blemish on the rest of the organization."

As news of investigations into the caravans rippled across the country, drawing condemnation from AAA New Jersey, Fuentes confirmed he and his top commanders will meet Wednesday with Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa, whose office is reviewing guidelines for State Police escorts.

The meeting will focus on "professionalism" within the ranks, according to two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigations. In particular, one source said, the tone of the meeting will be to emphasize "unprofessional actions will not be tolerated."

The sources requested anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss the investigation.

Also today, another person came forward saying she witnessed the March 30 caravan of dozens of Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other cars racing down the Garden State Parkway with two State Police patrol cars. The caravan was deemed by one onlooker as "Death Race 2012."

The two officers have been suspended without pay.

The escort policy needs to be revisited in a serious way and those in the police command structure who tolerated these actions need to be reprimanded. The officers involved were not the only ones who should be punished. Their actions were the result of superior officers allowing this behavior to continue and/or actively engaged in directing officers to provide these escorts.

Gov. Christie has to make it clear that he will not tolerate this kind of behavior among the state police. They have to be held to the same standards as everyone else driving - and escorting high-end sports cars at a high rate of speed creates unsafe conditions for all other drivers along the highways - potentially exposing the state to liability for any accidents that occur (and the cautionary tale of Jon Corzine's near-fatal accident with a state police driver at the wheel should be a reminder that accidents do occur).

Now Is Time For New Jersey To Purchase Properties Along Route 17 Corridor

Route 17 through Bergen County is one of the busiest corridors in the state, and traffic congestion is a constant companion to drivers on the stretch between Route 4 in Paramus at the Garden State Plaza and Essex Street in Hackensack. While the rest of Route 17 is a three lane divided highway with paved shoulders leading to businesses, this particular stretch is only two lanes wide, and in some places there aren't shoulders.

Thus, when there are accidents in the area, it can cause massive backups and delays.

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Plans to expand the highway to three lanes in each direction, along with building modern highway overpasses have been floated in the past, but the time is ripe to go ahead with the project now.

Several businesses along the stretch have gone out of business recently, and for sale/lease signs are posted. That would make purchase by the state or localities for the purpose of expanding the highway easier - and less costly.

After all, one of the most expensive portions of the project isn't construction - it's the acquisition costs of property along the highway right of way.

Yet, the mayor of Rochelle Park is opposed to the $200 million proposal. He argues that the expansion would adversely affect traffic in town. That makes little sense, particularly because traffic congestion increases pollution from vehicles sitting in traffic each time the traffic slows down (an all too common occurrence.

In particular, the town claims it would lose $1 million in ratable properties annually as a result of the expansion. That seems particularly far-fetched considering that the properties along the right of way are in several cases marginal properties to begin with and have had difficulty in securing leases. Traffic congestion reduces the chances that people can utilize those same businesses and while several homes would need to be obtained through eminent domain, the benefit to the town as a result of eliminating the traffic bottleneck would mean that drivers on side streets would see improved flow because drivers wouldn't need to seek alternative routes to avoid congestion on Route 17.

Some of the same businesses that sought to block the project have themselves gone out of business or relocated due to the poor economic environment.

About the Proposed NTSB Ban On Cell Phones/Texting While Driving

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has proposed a nationwide ban on cell phone usage while driving, including a ban on calling, texting, or emailing while driving in an effort to reduce fatalities and injuries resulting from distracted drivers. The proposal would include a ban on hands-free devices.

It's the latter bit that caught some folks by surprise.

The NTSB recommendation is unlikely to cause states to immediately ban driver cell phone use, nor should they necessarily. Currently, no state has taken that hard a line, and only nine prohibit talking on a handheld cellphone while driving. A majority prohibit texting while driving. And many have restrictions on cellphone use for certain drivers — those with restricted (novice) licenses and school bus operators chief among them.


Maryland is already among the most restrictive of states in this arena. It's against the law to talk on a phone while driving, and this year the General Assembly expanded its ban on texting to include reading them and not just writing them.

The next logical step for Annapolis is not to ban cellphone use by drivers entirely but to make the existing prohibitions a primary offense rather than a secondary one. Currently, police can ticket someone for breaking the state's cellphone restrictions only if the driver has been pulled over for some other violation.

The arguments against primary enforcement — just like those against restricting cellphone use by drivers in general — are familiar but unconvincing. Most drivers, they will argue, can talk and drive responsibly just fine. And if the state must ban distractions, what about eating, smoking, changing radio stations, applying makeup, lecturing the kids or the dozens of other behaviors drivers might engage in that the law could never even anticipate?

All reasonable points, but they don't negate the growing evidence that cellphone use while driving is increasingly a contributing factor in accidents. The consequences of that behavior, while less severe than drinking and driving, are alarming: More than 3,000 people lose their lives each year in distraction-related crashes.

This is a list of the current statutory provisions across the country that limit cell phone and other devices while driving. California is the only state that prohibits all cell phone use, including hands free devices, but that's only for drivers under the age of 18. No state has restrictions as severe as what the NTSB recommends.

But the NTSB recommendations raise a far more troubling issue. The fact is that it's all too easy to get distracted while driving. Cell phones that aren't hands free are a distraction that can and should get limited. I'm much less convinced about hands free, although restrictions on novice drivers should be encouraged.

The NTSB doesn't take a position on the ergonomics of key components in cars - like incomprehensible and minuscule buttons for AC/radios and the touch/lcd screens. In some instances, they may be just as, or more, distracting than cell phones. That's something that the manufacturers need to look at, but the NTSB doesn't address this in their recommendations.

I would support a nationwide cell phone ban that requires hands free phone capabilities, but it seems a bit of a stretch to say that hands free should also be banned.

You get to a point of diminishing returns on enforcement - limited money that can be spent elsewhere (like making it safer for pedestrians to cross streets at crosswalks).