The NYPD started enforcing a new 25 mph speed limit on Broadway from the Upper West Side to Inwood on Monday, using radar guns to catch offenders.
The Department of Transportation put up new speed limit signs on July 14, as well as smaller blue signs that read “Broadway Slow Zone.”
The road has had its speed reduced from Columbus Circle to 220th Street, according to the DOT.
Deputy Chief Morales, of patrol borough Manhattan North, said his cops are using a combination of education, radar guns, and summonses to slow down drivers.
He is also meeting with other commanders every other week to talk about traffic in their precincts.
“We don’t want to just give out summonses, we want to be at the right intersection at the right time,” he said.
There have been 24 fatal crashes in that section of Broadway since 2008.
Judith Robinson, a 37-year-old mom and tutor, said she was happy about the drop in speed.
“A lot people have been killed here,” she said. “I don’t cross before I make eye contact with the driver. That way I know they see me.”
Doctor Samantha Lee, 26, was killed early Jan. 19 after she tried to cross West 96th Street between Broadway and West End Avenue.
She fell when she was hit by the side mirror of a St. Luke’s ambulance while crossing the street, and then was fatally struck by a Dodge Charger.
Lee had lived nearby in a condo at The Columbia.
On Jan. 10, Alexander Shear, 73, was dragged to his death by a green tour bus going downtown on Broadway and turning onto 96th Street.
The Upper West Side has also had two crashes nearby, including 9-year-old Cooper Stock who was struck and killed by a taxi driver on Jan. 10 on West End Avenue and 97th Street.
The driver was not criminally charged with his death.
“I think this is good news, but it’s very confusing as to exactly when these various changes go into effect,” said his mom Dana Lerner. “It should be part of a bigger, more visible campaign. Many, many people are still uninformed.”
Jean Chambers, 61, was also killed on West End Avenue when she was hit by a car on July 10 at the intersection with West 95th Street.
The slowdown on Broadway is one of 27 slow zones that are being introduced into New York City.
Canal Street was the first Manhattan road to lower it speeds limit to 25 mph, from East Broadway to West Street.
It went into effect in June.
Meanwhile, the NYPD’s chief of transportation said Monday that the number of jaywalking and speeding summonses given out this year have soared.
“Pedestrian summonses have increased 150 percent, and are having an effect,” said Chief Thomas Chan.
He also noted that speeding tickets for drivers are also up 67 percent.