A charter school on Pelham Parkway now has speed bumps to increase traffic safety.
Icahn Charter Schools, located at 1500 Pelham Parkway South and consisting of Icahn Charter schools 3, 4 an 5, was recently the recipient of three speed bumps on the Pelham Parkway South service road between Eastchester Road and Stillwell Avenue.
The NYC Department of Transportation installed the speed bumps in mid-November, according to a spokesperson.
The speed bumps, which were requested by Councilman James Vacca and advocated for by Community Board 11 district manager Jeremy Warneke as early as 2014 after the school reached out to them, were installed to reduce the speed of traffic on the service road.
Drivers often confuse the speed limit of Pelham Parkway’s main road (35 miles per hour) for the service road.
Along with the speed bumps, the stretch between Eastchester Road and Stillwell Avenue has ‘15 MPH – Speed Bump’ signs posted to alert drivers of the need to slow down.
“Children’s safety, especially at school locations, is among the biggest concerns and priorities in our community – and the implementation of these speed bumps has produced very successful results,” said Vacca, “If the speed bumps hadn’t been installed, drivers would still speed past the school – so it’s good that we know have the tools to slow these drivers down.”
Vacca added that the speed bumps were not installed in any MTA bus lanes.
“I am very glad, actually thrilled, that these speed bumps were installed, because in the past, motorists would fly and cruise past this school at 40 MPH,” said Jeff Litt, superintendent for Icahn Charter Schools, who says that he intends to paint the speed bumps to generate more awareness if he gets approval from the city.
“It was an accident waiting to happen and somebody was going to get hurt sooner or later, so it’s very positive that this situation was addressed and taken care of.”
“James (Vacca) is a fixture in the community – and I want to thank him, as well as Jeremy (Warneke) for being there for us (Icahn Charter Schools) during this process and making sure these speed bumps were installed, and it has helped improve the safety of our residents, especially children and elders, significantly.”
