We want to know of any other neighborhood in New York City, that has three consecutive streets all facing the same one way direction. If our community is ever faced with an evacuation order, what chaos would we be facing trying to leave our homes to get to safety.
Yesterday, as traffic was backed up on Pelham Parkway, Ed Romeo called out, “Anyone who wants to make a right turn on St. Paul Avenue, blow your horn!”
The backed up traffic blew their horns and loudly shouted from their windows their objection to the continuous congestion they have to deal with every night driving home after work. These same drivers know they can’t make the right turn on St. Paul but they want to know why this disastrous traffic congestion for the last two years has not been corrected.
Many of our neighbors yesterday told a NY Times photographer they have seen residents of St. Paul Avenue backing out of St. Paul to get to 196th Street because they don’t want to go all around Colonial and Burr avenues. Neighbors have told us when they were on 196th Street to make a turn onto St. Paul Avenue, they had to apply their brakes because they never expected a car to be coming towards them on the St. Paul Avenue one way street.
Our elected officials and the D.O,T, have to turn St. Paul Avenue back the way it was. Everyone in the Pelham Bay community for dozens and dozens of decades were able to make a right turn on St. Paul Avenue, which is the correct traffic flow of streets in New York City. One street going east followed by the other street going west or north and south. Common sense in every community proves that this is the only safe way for traffic to move.
Unfortunately yesterday, when you had two opposing groups adamant with two very different opinions, the voices became extremely loud and the police were called. The police came immediately. The sad news is that this all could have been avoided if the entire community would have had a voice from the very first day that the St. Paul Avenue reversal was being proposed. This injustice must be reversed. The entire taxpaying community must have a voice as to whether St. Paul Avenue will stay reversed or be turned back the way it was.
We want to thank Virginia Valenti in her letter to the editor in this week’s column for coming up with a great solution for St. Paul Avenue’s problem when it is reversed back to the way it was for decades. The traffic calming system will eliminate all the dangerous problems St. Paul complained about and their justification for the reversal. Also, moving the bus stop from in front of Plummer Pavilion, across the street, to the front of the building, will eliminate the former problem of cars making a right turn around the bus to drop off passengers. The bus spot in front of the Plummer Pavilion would now have the parking spots for cars.
The PBTCA wants to thank Senator Klein for the quick response cleaning up Pilgrim Avenue and both sides of Buhre Avenue. The PBTCA is involved with so many detrimental issues going on in our community. The terrible traffic and unsafe conditions at the five way corner of Buhre Avenue and Westchester Avenue, the traffic problem at Wilkinson Avenue and Westchester Avenue, and the horrendous unsafe traffic conditions at Pelham Bay station.
The PBTCA has united together with our neighboring civic associations. At our monthly meetings, we are working together to correct these destructive problems to our communities with the help of our elected officials. Join your local civic association and add your voice and opinions for the betterment of all our neighborhoods.
