 Councilmember Eugene's office is reporting that a second community meeting to discuss traffic improvements at the Ocean/Parkside will be announced soon, likely in September. The Department of Transportation is finishing up a study of the intersection, which, as we've noted in the past, is a "death trap" (the technical term) for pedestrians. The specific changes haven't been announced, but Madeleine Fix-Hansen of PLG Public Works (a local group devoted to improving neighborhood safety), says she expects Keith Bray of the DOT to discuss them at the meeting.
So we don't know what is happening and we don't know when yet, but we do know that something will take place soon. Qualified hurray.
 The dangerous driving at the Ocean/Parkside intersection near the entrance to Prospect Park - long a concern of this blog (and apparently always the case, see photo) - may finally be getting the attention that it deserves. After friend-of-Hawthorne-Street Madeline Fix-Hansen's mother was hit by a car crossing the street, Madeline started a petition (sign it, please) to make the intersection safer and people are taking notice.
WPIX covered the problems with the intersection last Thursday and posted the story online. In it, the reporter and Councilman Mathieu Eugene recreated Carrie's perilous trip across the street and - just like Carrie - were nearly run down for their troubles. In fact, WPIX used a clip of Carrie's video, though Carrie was identified as Madeline in the story.
I assume that WPIX was tipped to the story by this article in The Brooklyn Paper, which gives a pretty good recap of the dangers of the intersection and the efforts made by Carrie and Madeline to make it safer including a reference to the calming plan that Carrie (via PLG Public Works) presented to public officials back in 2009.
If you want to join us in letting the city know that you are concerned, Councilman Eugene and Department of Transportation officials are holding a safety forum at Calvary Pentecostal Church (151 Woodruff Ave. at Kenmore Place) on May 3 at 7 pm.
Photo credit: Brooklyn Eagle, 1937 via the Brooklyn Public Library archives.
Hat tip to The Q at Parkside for noticing all the recent activity on the issue.
 It took a year or two but it looks like the Million Trees Project is finally delivering: several sidewalk cuts for street trees have appeared on the block between Flatbush and Bedford. If all goes according to plan, the trees should be planted this spring.
Requesting the trees was easy. The hard part is going to be keeping them alive. Most of the trees are located in spots where the building owners didn't actually approve them, so it's going to be up to others people on the block to help water and maintain them.
Keeping street trees alive generally isn't too tough -- the Parks Department picks particularly hardy species. But the stretch of Hawthorne on the north side, near Flatbush, is relentlessly sunny, with all the reflected concrete, and the trees there will need regular watering.
Want to help out? Come to the next block party meeting to discuss. Or email us at brooklynite282 at gmail and we'll follow up.
Why would the MTA fail to shovel around the bustop and around its corner parking lot at Empire Boulevard & Flatbush Avenue? One of most pedestrian-heavy stretches in our neighborhood? Good question!
As of this morning, stretches of the sidewalk near the transit hub--a popular footpath to the Prospect Park Zoo, Botanic Gardens, and Crown Heights--remained a slippery, icy mess.
Here are a few photos and comments, courtesy of local correspondent Jeanne O.
"Here is a giant snow mound blocking the sidewalk outside of the Wendy's on Flatbush, next to the bus stop. It seems like the MTA shoveled out the bus stop and put the snow on the sidewalk."
"Here is the sidewalk outside the NYCT parking lot at Flatbush and Empire. It was not shoveled at all. It is a huge mound of ice now totally covering the entire sidewalk there and along Ocean on that side."
The southwest corner of Flatbush & Empire, looking north. "We tried to get to the zoo and barely made it because the intersection is so difficult to pass [with a stroller] at Empire."
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:
Continue reading "Notes From Community Board Meeting: Safe Streets, Rapid Buses and Scary Water" »
Remember last week how we mentioned the nightmare intersection at Empire/Flatbush/Ocean? It turns out that the Dept. of Transportation (DOT) has already mapped out a solution and will be presenting it at the Community Board 9 public meeting next week!
There are several other interesting items on the agenda as well:
Reps from the DOT will be discussing its proposal for the Nostrand Avenue Select Bus Service
The Department of City Planning will discuss the Car Share Text Amendment, which will allow services like ZipCar to do more business in our neighborhood
NYH20 will do a presentation on to the threat to New York City’s drinking water from companies proposing to use Hydraulic Fracturing/Horizontal
Drilling to drill for gas.
Per usual, the meeting is Tuesday (June 22) at 7 pm at the Middle School 61 Auditorium, 400 Empire Blvd. (between Nostrand and New York Avenues). Contact CB President Pearl Miles in advance if you'd like to speak a few words about any of the agenda items: 718-778-9279 or bk09@cb.nyc.gov. Hope to see you there!
 Congratulations, PLG. The city's long-awaited study of Flatbush Avenue is now reality. The Department of Transportation has begun analyzing traffic between Empire and Nostrand to see what can be done to alleviate congestion, improve air quality, and make the road safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. The study will focus on several Flatbush intersections; the key spots in our neighborhood are Empire Boulevard/Ocean Avenue, Lincoln Road, Washington Avenue, and Parkside Avenue. If you have any thoughts about specific intersections — whether as a pedestrian or driver — please leave them in the comments. I'd like to collect feedback from the community here and send it to DOT officials to make sure they don't miss anything. Photo: According to Crashstat, the intersection of Flatbush and Parkside is one of the most dangerous in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
PREVIOUSLY
Traffic Calming Plans for Empire
Public Meeting for Church Avenue Improvements
I wish I had good news about eyesore in residence, 195 Hawthorne. The lot remains a festering pile of garbage and neglected scaffolding. I called in a sanitation violation to 311 last April, to no avail. But, hey, if at first you don't succeed.... welcome to 311 Online, where a handy web page makes it easy to send in sanitation complaints. (The form for abandoned lots is here.) Last time I complained anonymously (or at least, as anonymously as possible given that I also blogged about it). But this time left my contact info. Hopefully that will help. Also, it's worth noting that the Department is allocating log numbers for these kinds of litter requests now, allowing complainants to follow up — it wasn't doing that when I called in April. Fingers crossed!
 We've been waiting well over a year to get a speed hump on our block and chances are we'll be waiting a good while longer. One of the main advantages of speed humps is that they deter large trucks from blazing down the block. But even without a speed hump, there's a way to try to curb illegal truck traffic: report it!
How do you know when truck traffic on a block is illegal? The only legal thoroughfare that large trucks can use in PLG are Rogers, Flatbush, Nostrand, and Empire. Trucks with 6 or more tires (and even large trucks with only 4) cannot travel along residential streets such as Rutland, Fenimore, and Hawthorne, except in the cases where they are making deliveries on those streets (such as a Home Depot flatbed delivering bricks for a home renovation).
If you notice trucks regularly using your block as a through-street, note the time of day and license number (a description of the truck may also be helpful). Then report the incident to the Department of Transportation via calling 311 or using the DOT web form. If possible, copy me on any emails you send (brooklynite282@gmail.com); photos would also be helpful.
(Photo taken from an British source because I'm too lazy to wait by my window: by t1mmyb)
 Standing in the rain waiting for the B41 bus last weekend got me thinking: Why is it that only one of the B41 bus stops around here has a bus shelter? The B41, which goes up and down Flatbush, is one of most heavily used bus lines in Brooklyn. Yet Park Slope's B71, whose ridership is so low it's been slated for extinction, has new bus shelters in several spots along Union Street. RIGHT: The bus shelters along Parkside Avenue have no shortage of
customers. Yet the most heavily used bus lines in PLG lack such
shelters. The B41 isn't the only heavy-lifting bus line in PLG that doesn't have bus shelters. The B44 along Nostrand—which has the fifth highest ridership of any bus line in the city—has none within the PLG boundary either. In fairness, the MTA/DOT may be waiting until after the planned bus rapid transit line is in to install shelters along Nostrand. And before launching into a conspiracy theory, I should check whether the site specs along Flatbush would even allow for a shelter. If B41 stops don't fit the specs, it would be because the sidewalk along Flatbush Avenue is too narrow. But if the sidewalk is too narrow for a bus stop, that suggests another kind of problem: passengers clogging the sidewalks as they wait for one of the most crowded buses in the city. (I can attest to this happening at the Parkside stop.) One of two B41 express stops in PLG—at Empire Blvd.—has a bus shelter from a previous era, but there is no shelter at Parkside, nor are there shelters at Grand Army Plaza, an area with much wider sidewalks. I asked Community Board 9 President Pearl Miles about this, and she responded with a request for suggested stops. I'm going to recommend Grand Army Plaza and Parkside for the B41, and the B44 stops along Nostrand and New York Avenues. The B49, along Bedford and Rogers, has less than half the passenger load as the other buses, and I haven't checked for shelters along these roads (though I'm pretty sure there are zero). So if anyone has any other suggestions for Ms. Miles, do let her know: bk09@cb.nyc.gov.
|
Search
- brooklynite282 (at) gmail.com
|
Recent Comments