‘Unsafe for the kids:’ Parents urge DOT to fix nightmare intersection

Concerned parents are calling for more to be done about a busy intersection without a crossing guard just two blocks from an elementary.
Parents say children crossing the street at 177 Street and East Tremont Avenue to go to school are put in harm’s way.

With multiple lanes of traffic going in different directions at the five-way intersection and no pedestrian plazas or crossing guards, students at nearby P.S. 6 and P.S. 214 walk unprotected across the street, often stopping in the middle of the lanes.
"It is a little bit unsafe for the kids and the cars go really fast, I think because of the highways right here," says Alisha Izquirdo, of West Farms.
Just one block up at East Tremont Avenue and Boston Road, there are two crossing guards, but people in the area say that's not good enough.

NYPD officers at the 48th Precinct are looking into the problem, but say placing a new crossing guard is a long process that goes through several agencies. One of those agencies is the Department of Transportation.
The DOT tells News 12 the intersection, which it calls “complex,” is already on its radar with a new layout and a plan for it is in its final design phase.

The DOT said in a statement, “These new designs will better organize pedestrian and vehicle movements, extend sidewalks and add pedestrian refuge islands to shorten pedestrian crossing distances.”

The DOT tells News 12 the plan will include new street lighting and traffic signals.
People in the area say they just want the intersection made safer as soon as possible.