Southern Corridor (2019-2020)

Hastings’ southern corridor has had longstanding issues with speeding and overall traffic safety. These problems got worse when GPS systems like Google Maps and Waze began directing more and more cars through residential neighborhoods as they traveled between Warburton Avenue, Broadway, Farragut Parkway, and the Saw Mill Parkway—all County and State roads.

Working with Trustee Georgia Lopez, we set out to map the complex—and sometimes competing—issues at play in the southern corridor. Data collection was going to be an essential tool here, and we persuaded the Village Board to hire traffic engineers for a study that would define the problems, identify solutions, and gauge the effectiveness of temporary changes before any permanent changes to the Village Code were put into effect.

We conducted outreach with the Village’s Emergency Services to ensure the traffic measures we were considering would be enforceable by Police and did not reduce response times by Fire Department.

We also held public input sessions to hear from as many residents and other stakeholders as possible. There were concerns about which options the Village would pursue and whether fixes in one area would create negative unintended consequences in another.

Balancing the data collected from the traffic study with the feedback we received from first responders and the community, the Village adopted our suggestions to:

• Restrict Yonkers-bound traffic from the Saw Mill Parkway on High Street, James Street, and Warren Street on weekday mornings;

• Restrict commercial traffic from James Street. Except for deliveries and repair service for residents; and

• Add stop signs along High Street

With these changes, we have seen reductions in traffic volume and speed throughout southern corridor, as well as improvement to the persistent dangers that had affected James Street residents in particular.