A Whitestone intersection just got a little bit safer.

According to neighborhood residents, traffic speeding down 15th Avenue and 147th Street past Public School 79 has long been a nuisance and a danger for pedestrians and school children. Hopefully, a new set of four-way stop signs will change that.

Two of the residents, Dan Godley and Katina Slattery, have worked for years to make the intersection safer and contacted Councilman Dan Halloran for help. At Halloran’s urging, Slattery collected over 300 signatures from neighborhood residents calling for speed bumps in the road to slow traffic.

Halloran’s office found that it would be impossible to install speed bumps due to underground utilities running through the street, so he requested the Department of Transportation (DOT) perform a traffic study to determine how to enhance safety around the school.

As a result of the study, the signs were installed by (DOT) on March 5. There is also a “Stop Ahead” sign on 147th Street ordering drivers to slow down as they approach the school. “This area is right next to a school, in a quiet, residential neighborhood,” said Halloran. “Hundreds of children walk these streets every day, and it’s our responsibility to protect them.”