approach by blowing a horn. However, so many accidents occurred between freight trains and other traffic that the nickname "Death Avenue" was given to both Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. Public debate about the hazard began during the early 1900s. In 1929, the city, the state, and New York Central agreed on the West Side Improvement Project, conceived by Robert Moses. The project eliminated 105 street-level railroad crossings and added to Riverside Park; it also included construction of the West Side Elevated Highway. It cost more than $150 million (about $2 billion in 2017 dollars). The part of Tenth Avenue north of West 59th Street was renamed "Amsterdam Avenue" in 1890 at the request of local merchants seeking to distance themselves from "Death Avenue" and to increase the value of their properties in an area that had yet to "catch on". The name was intended to recall the Dutch roots of Manhattan's earliest colonization in the 17th century, when the city was known as New Amsterdam. They hoped that the area would become a "the New City" and a "new, New Amsterdam". The Board of Alderman approved the name change, but only after first considering "Holland Avenue"; the change was made just before the vote on the resolution. In their approval, the Board noted that other name changes in the area – such as that of Eleventh Avenue to "West End Avenue" – had "a marked and beneficial effect on property", and said that they held such name changes "as second in importance only to the advantages of increased rapid transit." The Fort George Amusement Park, now a seating area in Highbridge Park, was located at the northern end of Amsterdam Avenue from 1895 to 1914. Tenth Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue were converted to carry one-way traffic northbound in two stages. South of its intersection with Broadway, the avenue was converted on November 6, 1948. The remainder, to 110th Street, was converted on December 6, 1951. Amsterdam Avenue continues to carry two-way traffic north of 110th Street. During the real estate boom of the late 20th century, Amsterdam Avenue from roughly 59th Street to 96th Street became one of the city's most expensive residential districts. Transportation The M11 bus runs northbound along Tenth and Amsterdam Avenues from 14th to 110th Street and in both directions from 110th to 135th Street. North of 72nd Street, the M7 bus also runs northbound on