After a Brooklyn man was killed while trying to cross Woodhaven Boulevard at Jamaica Avenue, residents are calling for change to an area they say is plagued by accidents and dangerous road conditions.
Yunior Antonio Perez Rodriguez, 35, of Brooklyn, was struck and killed around 3:15 a.m. last Saturday, according to the NYPD. Police said the driver fled the scene. According to cops, he may have been driving a white Honda Civic.
The 35-year-old was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, police said.
Community Board 9 member Alex Blenkinsopp, also the communications director for the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association, said change needs to come to Woodhaven Boulevard and stressed that he has long supported bringing speed cameras to the area.
“Speed cameras are something I’ve favored in the past, especially around schools,” Blenkinsopp said.
“Woodhaven Boulevard presents a hazard to pedestrian,” he continued. “Anything that will slow traffic down is something we need to take seriously.”
Fellow CB 9 member David Adorno agreed, saying “something needs to be done in that area.”
Adorno went on to say that something like what is known as a “traffic box,” or a designated space at an intersection that drivers must be out of when a light turns red or face steep penalties, could be implemented around Jamaica Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard.
“If drivers knew there would be a box and they’d get a ticket, maybe they’d think twice,” Adorno said.
Blenkinsopp noted that Woodhaven residents are anxious to discover the results of the Woodhaven Boulevard study that the city has been conducting for years, saying that could help to pinpoint solutions to the corridor.
The city Department of Transportation launched the Woodhaven Boulevard study five years ago, and civic leaders throughout the area touched by the boulevard have stressed that relief is needed for drivers and pedestrians.
To find out more about the study, visit http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/woodhavenblvd.shtml.
By Anna Gustafson
