Notes From Community Board Meeting: Safe Streets, Rapid Buses and Scary Water

There was a lot going on at the Community Board meeting Tuesday night so let's jump right in...

EMPIRE/OCEAN/FLATBUSH TRAFFIC CALMING

The most exciting news to my mind is that the Empire/Ocean/Flatbush intersection is getting a revamp to make it safer for pedestrians. We've been calling for this for two years now and are pretty impressed with the Department of Transportation's response:

• 3 of the 4 crosswalks at the intersection will get new splitter islands: raised platforms with trees and other plantings placed in-between north- and southbound lanes. The islands will slow down traffic and give pedestrians a refuge in case they get stuff between lights.
• Left turns from northbound vehicles on Flatbush (onto Ocean) are now banned. The DOT found that no one was doing left turns here, anyway, so it won't hurt traffic flow.
• Ocean Avenue will get a a new curb extension, which will slow down turning vehicles and shorten the distance pedestrians need to travel to cross the street.
• Alignment of traffic lanes will be improved.

Our neighbor, Dynishal, raised the point that the traffic lights for cars on Flatbush are out of sync, so DOT Rep Hillary Poole said she would look at that.

Plans to remake the intersection should begin in a couple of weeks or so. Fire up!

NOSTRAND AVENUE SELECT BUS SERVICE

The improvements to bus service will also have a direct impact on our neighborhood, whether you ride this bus or not: faster buses means more riders, fewer cars, and better air quality.

The Select Bus Service (SBS) will replace the limited bus on Nostrand. There will be two stops in PLG, one at Empire and one at Clarkson. A few highlights from the meeting:

• The new buses will have three entrances (much like a subway train) for speedy boarding.
• Riders will prepay before getting on the bus -- dispensers that accept Metrocards and change will be at SBS stops -- and will be required to carry their receipt with them.  Payment relies on the honor system, but DOT goons will make spot checks and anyone caught without a receipt will get a $100 summons.
• Bus stops will have extended sidewalks, making room for new bus shelters and plantings. People getting on the bus will not have to step up into the bus: the bus floor will be level with the curb.
• Southbound buses will travel along Rogers instead of New York Avenue.
• Dedicated bus lanes will be installed for the buses to use exclusively from 7 am to 7 pm on weekdays. Other vehicles may use the lane during off hours.
• Most parking spaces will be maintained. The only places where spaces will be removed are the bus stops themselves.
• SBS is already in play in the Bronx and has been an overwhelming success, reducing travel times and resulting in happier bus riders.

For more info, see the NYC Bus Rapid Transit Nostrand/Rogers Avenue page.

NY H20 Campaign

Representatives from the NY H20 campaign got up and made a compelling case for preventing natural gas companies from extracting in the Catskill/Delaware Watershed. They asked the CB9 Board to draft a statement calling for a moratorium on any drilling. There's a new HBO documentary, Gasland, about this issue. You can see the trailer here and it looks properly terrifying. For more info on how to help out, see the NYH20 Act Now! page.

Comments

[babs]

As the Foursquare mayor of the schleppy B44 bus (yes, that's how often I'm on it) I cannot overstate how thrilled I am to have the SBS take over! Especially as it now will go North up Rogers instead of NY.

[Paul Sargent]

RE: E/F/O traffic calming

I'm glad to have found your post on this project but I am completely confused by the DOT's logic here, as I watch the construction unfold. Unless something else will happen with this intersection, this is a mess. See these images I took today:
http://bit.ly/dkAFTa
http://bit.ly/9SbqKY
http://bit.ly/aCKSA1

Does anyone know if the forced right turn, from westbound Empire onto northbound Flatbush, is temporary? Or will this stand even when construction is completed? Because, right now, the signage is conflicting and cars are simply illegally (and recklessly) turning left or heading on straight to Ocean by driving to the left of the traffic island. Someone is going to get killed--which seems the complete opposite of the point of traffic calming.

I live on Washington at Sullivan and support all efforts to make this mess of a car-centric few blocks less dangerous (some speed bumps on Washington would be ideal!). I'm happy to see something being done. But this makes no sense. Virtually all the traffic heading west on Empire at that point is going down the southeastern side of the park on Ocean. Why would anyone wanting to go north on Flatbush not already be up on Eastern Parkway? What is the proposed alternate route to, say, the bottom of the park, Parkside Ave, Ocean heading south, or the Fort Hamilton or Prospect expressways?

The bottleneck I'm witnessing all day and night now seems completely unnecessary and only increases the chance that driver error and/or road rage will result in something awful happening at an already dangerous set of crossroads.

[Dynishal]

Paul, I attended the CB meeting where DOT presented on the project and was excited about the improvement for pedestrians. But like you, I'm concerned about the changed traffic pattern as Empire approaches Flatbush. I'm pretty sure the "right-turn only" issue was contractor error. But I'm still concerned about the narrowing of Empire just before the intersection.

At the CB meeting where the project was discussed, DOT described creating a barrier to separate traffic going straight across Flatbush from traffic turning right from Empire onto northbound Flatbush. But I recall that DOT also said that no traffic lanes would be lost due to this modification.

What appears to have happened is different. The barrier occupies a lane, forcing drivers attempting to cross Flatbush & continue onto Ocean to merge quickly from two lanes to one. This leads to all kinds of crazy swerving and a major back up. It took four lights for us to drive from Empire and Washington to Ocean Ave, jostling with tour buses the whole way. I see this increase in congestion on the block of Empire b/w Washington & Flatbush as the major negative outcome of the project. Then again, with them widening the curb on the Ocean side of the intersection, the merger seems necessary so what to do?