Voters Want Action on Fordham Road Traffic

In the upcoming primary election in June, Oswald Feliz is running to keep the District 15 city council seat that he won in 2021. Redistricting requires him to run again after only two years. He doesn’t have Democratic opposition but Jose Padilla is the Conservative Party primary candidate running in the June 27 primary election. 

Feliz may not have a primary opponent but faces a challenge in his district with traffic, bikes, and pedestrians on Fordham Road. A new Citi Bike stand was set up on Jerome Avenue and West Fordham Road, but there isn’t a bike lane. For delivery workers, it always feels unsafe. 

Omar Lopez, a delivery cyclist, said, “For someone like me who uses a bike as transportation to work, it is important to know the correct paths to bike for safety. There are always women and children in the streets that one can accidentally cross over just because there are no correct lanes for bikes.” The 52-year-old delivery man lights up his bike with signals and flashlights to help him see and warn pedestrians along his path.  

Fordham Road is notoriously dangerous. Streetsblog called it one of the most poorly designed roads in New York City, with other streets and avenues dumping into its six lanes from both sides at confusing angles. From July 2016 through July 2021, there were more than 1700 injuries and about 4,800 crashes, according to crashmapper.org.

Neighbors think that this is an issue for the City Council to be concerned about. Amanda Fuente, a mother of three children at PS.33 located on Jerome Avenue and Fordham Road, worries about their safety. “As a mother in this busy city, it is always a hazard to have to walk with carefulness to my home, since people don’t respect the lanes. People are all over the place. Now this new council will have to grow the safety community and give more crossing guard jobs. It’s just simply important!”  

Councilmember Feliz’s office did not respond to our request for comment. But his Facebook page does mention traffic safety. It says, “We deserve safe streets, affordable housing, and good public schools. That’s the Bronx that I’m fighting for.” People in the neighborhood hope that he will deliver and solve the Fordham Road problem. The upcoming elections give voters in the Fordham area a chance to let candidates know that they worry about traffic and accidents on Fordham Road.