Crosswalks as traffic calming?

Hawthorne Street heard back from the Community Board on our idea for repairing crosswalks on streets that intersect with Flatbush. Apparently, the DOT has said that it was not going to replace these missing bricks (at this or any other location in the city). Still, Board Manager Pearl Miles said she would propose the idea of using salvaged bricks to the DOT if we hash out a solid plan.

This got me thinking: Since the neighborhood is currently developing plans to discourage speeding and excess through-traffic on residential streets, maybe we could kill two birds with one stone and design crosswalks that also work as traffic calming devices.

I talked to Amy Pffeifer from Transportation Alternatives recently, and she recommended using "bulb-outs" or curb extensions on the corner of Flatbush and Hawthorne. These would prevent cars from making wide (and fast) turns on Hawthorne, thus discouraging trucks and other traffic from using us as a shortcut.



To give you an idea of what bulb-outs look like in real life, see the photos here, here, and here. 

One potential added advantage of maintaining brick crosswalks, aside from asthethics, is that they increase safety for pedestrians while at the same time signalling to drivers, "you're now entering a residential area." At any rate, visually distinguishing our side streets from Flatbush, Bedford, Rogers, and Nostrand could help curb the thru-traffic we see on our blocks.

Comments

[LM]

Sidewalk bulbs are attractive and if they are effective then we should push for them.

[Anne / Sustainable Flatbush]

Sustainable Flatbush is planning a Livable Streets Conference, to be held at Brooklyn College early next year.

We are working with Center for the Study of Brooklyn, Transportation Alternatives, and local politicians; the idea is to create a forum for discussing issues and solutions that are specific to Brooklyn neighborhoods south and east of Prospect Park.

Traffic calming, public transit improvements (especially buses), and a better pedestrian environment (and the resulting benefits to local businesses) are all on the agenda.

I'll post more details as they become available, but I'd like to invite all readers (and writers!) of this blog to participate.