Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Vacca Law Requiring City to Explain Stop Sign, Traffic Signal Denials Enacted

Here is more info on what NYC Councilman Vacca is up to.

Gregory

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Vacca Law Requiring City to Explain Stop Sign, Traffic Signal Denials Enacted

CITY HALL, NY ― Council Member James Vacca, Chair of the City Council Transportation Committee, today announced final enactment of legislation he drafted to require the City to provide detailed traffic studies whenever it rejects a stop sign or traffic signal requested by a Council Member or Community Board.
The legislation ― passed by the Council on February 16 and signed by the Mayor on February 22 ― requires the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), upon denial of a traffic control device, to report the date and time of any traffic study it performed and the criteria a request must meet to be approved. It must also make available, upon request, any traffic data the agency collected to make its determination, including vehicle and accident counts.
“Too often residents ask for stop signs and traffic lights on their block only to be told that their request doesn’t ‘meet the warrants,’” Vacca said. “My legislation goes beyond ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to require the City to explain why a certain request was denied and to share its studies so that community members can take other steps to make their streets safe.”
Vacca’s bill, known as Intro 377, was part of a broader street-safety package passed by his Committee. The package also included a bill to require the Police Department to make public all traffic accident information, broken down by specific intersections, and a bill to require DOT to begin compiling accident data related to bicycles.

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