The intersection at W 42^nd St & 9^th Ave is a bit of a gauntlet for pedestrians, and almost always has a police officer directing traffic during peak hours of the day. As of today, however, members of CHEKPEDS have managed to get the way the lights work changed. From their posting:

When the light turns red on 9^th Avenue, pedestrians now get the WALK signal immediately, while the cars turning from 9^th Avenue do not have the green arrow. If the drivers try to turn south, the eastbound traffic prevents them from doing so. As the pedestrian countdown comes to 0, the westbound cars turning south get a green arrow, while the eastbound traffic is stopped.

It took seven years for CHEKPEDS to get the lights changed, but now that it’s here should hopefully make that extremely busy intersection a bit safer for pedestrians.

It’s good to see changes being made to help improve safety on the intersections along 9^th Ave. Earlier this year, just one block south at 41^st & 9^th, a 69-​year-​old woman was killed in a hit-​and-​run when a van made a “right hook” onto 41^st St, so it’s hard to disagree with the changes. We’ll be looking to see if changes like the one today spread to other intersections.