By David Greene

 

Think Gun Hill Road got its name by mistake? A new study released this week by the nonprofit Tri State Transportation Campaign, revealed that E. Gun Hill Road is the borough's deadliest street.

 

In its yearly report, which helps to pinpoint the city's most dangerous intersections for pedestrians and bike riders, the Bronx had no roads nearly as bad as Hempstead Turnpike in Nassau County, which was rated as the worst road in the entire city with 13 fatalities between 2006 and 2008, the latest statistics that were available for this study.

 

But the study did find that 57 people were killed in the Bronx between 2006 - 2008, with the most dangerous road being E. Gun Hill Road, which had 23 serious accidents in 2006, 11 in 2007 and 23 in 2008.

 

E. Gun Hill Road was dubbed the deadliest Bronx Street for the four people who died: an 81-year-old female killed at E. Gun Hill Road and Bainbridge on January 24, 2006 and a 66-year-old woman killed at the same street on November 8, 2006. A 58-year-old man was killed at E. Gun Hill Road and Webster on February 23, 2007 and a 67-year-old man was killed at E. Gun Hill and the Bronx River Parkway on Aug. 11, 2006.

 

The second most dangerous street in the borough belongs to the Grand Concourse with no serious accidents reported in 2006, but 2 were recorded in 2007 and 3 in 2008 for a total of 5.

 

According to the survey, the third most dangerous roadway was Broadway, which had no incidents recorded in 2006, but logged 1 in 2007 and 3 in 2008 for a total of 4.

 

As runner up, Webster Avenue recorded six serious incidents in the same time frame.

 

At a January 6 press conference in midtown Manhattan, Michelle Ernst, the author of the study stated, "The most dangerous roads for walking are either major suburban roadways dotted with retail destinations but designed exclusively for fast-moving car traffic or extremely busy urban roads."

 

Kate Slevin, the executive director of the Campaign, added, "Even with limited resources, the New York State Department of Transportation can step up efforts to design more balanced, walkable streets."

 

A day after the study was released, two cars collided at E. Gun Hill Road and the Bronx River Parkway, the site of several recent accidents. Members of EMS evaluated several children but only reported one person was taken to Montefiore Hospital with nonlife threatening injuries. The crash, which took place at just after 8 p.m., was not serious enough to ever make the study. But tell that to the guy in the ambulance.

 

Those wishing to see the study can log onto: www.tstc.org/danger.html