Traffic calming plans for Empire Blvd.

After attending last night's Community Board 9 meeting, I've got some good news and bad news. Good news: the Department of Transportation has developed a promising traffic calming plan for Empire Boulevard that, if approved, will be implemented in July. And the bad: the plan doesn't include the blocks of Empire from Flatbush to Bedford, one the most dangerous stretches for pedestrians and cyclists. Instead, it starts at Bedford and reaches to Utica.

The changes the DOT does plan to implement are certainly much needed. Empire is nearly twice the width that it needs to be, given its traffic volume, and that excess width encourages speeding. The DOT plans to reduce the boulevard from two lanes to one in each direction, place bike paths along each side of the street, add in 9 left turn bays and four protected pedestrian islands at key intersections, and plant trees and landscaping to the streetscape. 

You can find more information about the plan here. What you won't find, however, is the DOT's reasoning for excluding the Flatbush and Washington blocks, originally a key part of the plan.  According to DOT rep Hillary Poole, changes to those intersections were taken off the table due to the high traffic volumes concentrated there. At rush hour, things can get backed up for several blocks. When traffic is highly congested, it's slow and therefore less dangerous for pedestrians. 

That may be. But according to Crashstat, Transportation Alternative's database of DOT crash statistics, the Empire intersections at Flatbush and Washington are just as dangerous—and in some cases MORE dangerous—than the intersections included in the calming plan. The difference, of course, is that those intersections carry a much lower traffic volume; for them, the calming plan is a no-brainer. 

But, as CB President Pearl Miles argued at the meeting last night, the DOT shouldn't give up on finding a solution for the stretch around Flatbush merely because it's difficult. The DOT shouldn't just be thinking of the auto traffic there, it needs to think about the FOOT traffic as well. The intersection is a crossroads for commuters riding the bus and subway; for shoppers at Western Beef; for visitors to Prospect Park, the carousel, zoo, and the Botanic Gardens.

To their credit, the DOT reps (Poole and Keith Bray), were open to revisiting the question. Poole said, for example, that she'd look into the possibility of incorporating pedestrian lead intervals into traffic signals. 

We'll follow up and let you know what happens.

Comments

[Bob M]

"the plan doesn't include the blocks of Empire from Flatbush to Bedford, one the most dangerous stretches for pedestrians and cyclists"

I'm stunned to see that.IMO the plan is virtually pointless without the key intersection of Flatbush,Ocean, and Empire.

[Nick]

Agreed about the need for Flatbush-area extension. Or, given that traffic is so bad there, why not change the traffic routing?

In any case the proposed changes look a lot like what happened up on Vanderbilt in Prospect Heights. A good thing, IMHO. Really helped change the dynamic of the street into a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly space.