MAYOR ADAMS ANNOUNCES HISTORIC INVESTMENT OF MORE THAN $900 MILLION IN TRAFFIC SAFETY TO TURN THE TIDE ON TRAFFIC VIOLENCE CRISIS

 

More Than Half-Billion Dollar Capital Investment and Baselined Expense Funds Will Advance Goals of ‘NYC Streets Plan’ and Deliver Safer, Healthier, and Greener City 

With Significant New Funding Commitment, Mayor Adams Will Tackle Traffic Violence Crisis — Protecting Cyclists, Speeding up Public Transportation, and Reclaiming Street Space for Pedestrians 

Administration Already at Work With New Safety Upgrades Beginning for Five Protected Bike Lanes in Four Boroughs, on Track to Keep Promise of 20 Miles of Bike Lanes Hardened by End of 2023 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams today

announced a historic investment of more than $900 million to tackle the city’s traffic violence crisis and deliver a safer, healthier, and greener city for all New Yorkers. The Adams administration is committing $904 million over five years — nearly $580 million in capital funding, as well as expense funding that ramps up to more than $65 million annually, or $327 million over five years — to advance the goals laid out in the ‘NYC Streets Plan’ and rapidly build out critical street safety and public transportation infrastructure. With this major new investment, Mayor Adams also today announced that the city was getting to work immediately, designating five protected bike lanes for physical infrastructure upgrades to protect cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians. 

Today’s major investment follows an announcement earlier this week that 150 streets — covering a total of 300 blocks — are participating in the 2022 Open Streets program. It also follows the administration’s plan — announced earlier this year — to redesign 1,000 intersections and the mayor’s

urging Albany to pass local control and give New York City the power to set speed limits and control automated traffic enforcement. Today also marks the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Car-Free Earth Day, which Mayor Adams and DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez kicked off with a Citi Bike ride over the Brooklyn Bridge.  

“This investment is a game-changer,” said Mayor Adams. “Too many New Yorkers have lost their lives to the traffic violence crisis, and we are seeing cities across the country struggle just like us, but this historic investment will allow New Yorkers to walk and cycle around our city without fear. With this historic investment of over $900 million, we are tackling this crisis head-on and setting the tone nationwide. We are going to ‘Get Stuff Done’ and deliver safe streets for New Yorkers. This is how we save lives.” 

“Expansion of car-free streets is a giant step towards aligning New Yorker’s experience with this fundamental truth: To save lives and our planet, streets cannot just be for cars anymore,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “Though we have the most heavily driven streets in the nation, today’s action and historic investment show the Adams administration’s deep commitment to ensuring this prime real estate is available to all.” 

“Car-Free Earth Day is a reminder that we can all do our part to shape a better planet. We at the DOT understand we are experiencing a climate crisis, and we must act now,” said DOT Commissioner Rodriguez. “This ‘NYC Streets Plan’ funding will both support sustainable transit and curb the senseless violence on our streets. We thank the mayor for this commitment and show of support for this important work.”  

This $904 million investment will advance the statutory commitments of the ‘NYC Streets Plan,’ the transformative five-year vision to expand the mileage of bike lanes, dedicated bus lanes and busways, and reclaimed pedestrian space on city streets. The plan also aims to reform on-street parking and reduce the number of dangerous vehicles and drivers in New York City — building on work the city has already done to stem the tide of rising traffic violence.  

This five-year budgetary commitment surpasses the city’s statutorily obligated commitment of $1.7 billion over 10 years.  

Vision Zero 

This new ‘NYC Streets Plan’ funding builds on the ongoing budgetary commitments to curb traffic deaths. The city has committed nearly $3 billion in the Capital Budget, from Fiscal Year 2022 to 2031, and roughly $200 million on average per year in the expense budget. The city is already advancing the ‘NYC Streets Plan’ with projects that include the more permanent redesigns of popular Open Streets, including 34^th Avenue in Queens and Berry Street in Brooklyn; a new linear park and sidewalk-grade bike lanes on Queens Boulevard; and a host of bus improvement projects in the Bronx tied to the MTA’s Bronx bus network redesign.  

Bike Lane Hardening  

DOT crews have been working to meet the administration’s commitment to upgrade physical infrastructure on 20 miles of bike lanes by the end of 2023. Mayor Adams today announced an additional five bike lanes that have been selected for physical upgrades, keeping the city on track to complete 10 miles of bike lane upgrades in 2022 and 20 miles in 2023. The five locations are:  

·        20^th Street, from 7^th Avenue to 10^th Avenue (Brooklyn) 

·        Northern Blvd, from 41^st Avenue to Honeywell Street (Queens) 

·        Grand Street — exact limits to be determined (Brooklyn) 

·        60^th Street, from 1^st Avenue to York Avenue (Manhattan) 

·        Southern Boulevard — exact limits to be determined (Bronx)