Redesign of Bowman-Westchester intersection will make it safer for drivers and pedestrians

July 25, 2024 at 12:58 a.m.

Diagram showing proposed changes to the Bowman Avenue and Westchester Avenue intersection to improve traffic flow as well as motorist and pedestrian safety. (Courtesy photo of Village of Port Chester)

There are several problematic intersections in Port Chester, and one of them, arguably the most dangerous, will be getting a makeover within the next year.

Located close to the Port Chester/Rye Brook border, the place where Bowman and Westchester avenues converge throws the inexperienced or unaware driver for a loop. Coming from Rye Brook on Westchester Avenue, do you stop as you go through the intersection or just yield to traffic filtering in on the right from Bowman?

Once you’ve navigated the intersection a few times, you realize that you are not supposed to stop. If you do, you will be chastised by honking from vehicles behind you or, worse, may be hit by one of them.

An employee of First Bank of Greenwich, situated right in the middle of the intersection, said she has witnessed several accidents over the years at that spot.

The area is also perilous for the many students walking to and from Port Chester Middle School.

Now that Westchester County is redesigning and planning to resurface Westchester Avenue in Port Chester in the near future—the timeline keeps changing—reconfiguring the Bowman-Westchester exchange is in the cards.

Comprehensive traffic studies have been done by consultants from Colliers Engineering on behalf of the village and Westchester County, and a plan has been drafted to improve safety and efficiency for drivers and pedestrians.

“Our representative from Colliers looked at that intersection, they came up with the initial design, we shared that with Westchester County, and they came back very positively and said this is very similar to what our engineer was looking at,” said Village Manager Stuart Rabin. “They said they would be willing to take this on, but the installation of a traffic pole and light is not within the capital budget for this project that was approved by the Board of Legislators.”

Among the improvements being considered are redesigning the adjacent parking lot in front of Danny’s Cycles and the laundromat and enhancing traffic flow in addition to installing a traffic light to create a “more legitimized intersection with the traffic control interacting with four lanes of traffic,” said Rabin.

Rabin suggested that Port Chester could submit the traffic signal as a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) project application to “dovetail this traffic control and adopt this as our plan for Bowman and Westchester,” and the County was on board with that idea.

CDBGs are capped at $200,000, so Port Chester is asking for that amount. If a grant of $200,000 is approved, the village must match it. Cost estimates for the project weren’t available as of press time but will be ready in time for the Monday, Aug. 5 public hearing which is required as part of the CDBG process. If the total cost is more than $400,000, the village will be responsible for the balance.

Grants will be awarded sometime near the end of 2024 or in early 2025. Since they are federal grants administered by the county, the timing will be dependent on those two government entities.

The intersection work will be done in conjunction with the road repaving, but the exact timeline is unclear.

“We are going to phase the repaving,” said Rabin. “The plans are only at 90% completion. We are going to focus on North Regent backwards to Bowman Avenue, and the second phase of that resurfacing will be undertaken by the county after the completion of our sewer project.” That portion will run from Oak Street to Abendroth Avenue.

In fact, “right now it’s looking like this project as we see it may be three phases,” Rabin explained, and he’s not sure when the first phase will begin because the design is not yet complete.

At the end of May, Rabin and other village staff hand delivered letters including a diagram showing the proposed redesign of the Bowman-Westchester intersection (see accompanying graphic) to all businesses in the area and sent the letter to all residential property owners on Westchester Avenue and asked for feedback by June 7.

“Outside of the usual radio silence, a few business owners we spoke to had some concerns about Bowman Avenue traffic flow and U turn issues, concerns about parking along the street, and we answered those the best we could,” said Rabin. “There isn’t an expectation there will be a reduction in parking, but the final determination about lane flow will come from Westchester County.”

A major feature is changing the parking configuration in front of Danny’s Cycles and the access to that lot which would be entered and exited via Merritt Street rather than Bowman Avenue. A bumpout “which the county is willing to give up will create that pseudo four corners appearance between Bowman and Westchester,” Rabin explained.

Additional comments are welcome at the Aug. 5 public hearing related to the grant application for the traffic light. It will start at 7 p.m. in the Rye Town Justice Court at 350 N. Main St.

“If people say we like the idea of a traffic light but are not sold yet on maybe lanes or striping in the lanes or an island, that is separate from our application [for the grant], and we can iron out those concerns separately with the traffic consultants,” said the village manager.

“It’s not good for an intersection to be both dangerous and confusing,” the manager articulated succinctly. “This design is supposed to help remove the danger and lessen the confusion.”

In the letter to residents and business owners, Rabin wrote that Port Chester has been working in partnership with the county to identify and design traffic improvements for Westchester Avenue, Bowman Avenue, North Regent Street and South Regent Street for almost two years.

Another perilous intersection will be further upgraded after new traffic lights and crosswalks were installed by the county in conjunction with the senior housing development on South Regent Street. Rabin reported at the June 12 Industrial Development Agency meeting that new striping, lane alignment and traffic controls are planned to make that crossroads safer.