Kent Ave Goes One-Way Today

Despite some local opposition, workers will begin today converting Kent Avenue into a one-way road, reports The Brooklyn Paper. The past year has been dramatic for this key connecting route between Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and Downtown. Last year, the city replaced hundreds of parking spaces with bike lanes on either side of the avenue. And now, the current plan is to allow only north-bound car traffic, reinstate parking lanes on both sides, and use one of the parking lanes as a buffer for a protected, two-directional bike lane. Supporters of this layout say that Kent Avenue will be safer and easier to use for bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists alike. Opponents worry that south-bound truck traffic formerly isolated to Kent will now overflow onto residential streets like Wythe. The workers today will begin on the section between Clymer Street and Broadway, and they plan to do the section between Broadway and North 14th in September, says the Department of Transportation.
Kent Avenue Goes One-Way [Brooklyn Paper]
The Kent Avenue Conundrum [Brownstoner]

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It was bad enough when the took away the parking for the nearly unused bike lanes.

Now they want to ruin one of the pleasures of living in Williamsburg. Kent is quiet and perfect the way it is.

Diverting the southbound traffic to the more residentil streets is a horrible and dangerous idea.

Sadik Khan and Bloomberg should stop wasting our money on their social engineering BS.

Enough already. Leave Kent alone.

Posted by: therealflyintheointment at August 17, 2009 11:53 AM

Told you this was a done deal back on 7/31 and not to waste your precious time petitioning. This makes complete sense. Kent is currently a dangerous speedway and motorists are a menace to bikers, walkers, and of course, stroller moms! And with the increasing number of residential buildings now along Kent, residents deserve more space. Bravo, Mr. Bloomberg!

Posted by: Stroller_Mom at August 17, 2009 1:03 PM

therealfly, I think you're missing the forest for the trees here, as Stroller Mom alluded to. Kent is going to be a major residential and commercial throughfare in Williamsburg in the next 3-5 years simply due to the number of people who will be living in those waterfront towers. People FLY down Kent (I am a moderately fast driver and yet I've been honked at and illegally passed by insane drivers on Kent, who apparently thought 60 was the appropriate speed); it needs to be made safer for everyone. This is a good move.

Posted by: bjw2103 at August 17, 2009 1:13 PM

Its a bad move, Kent takes the truck traffic off of the smaller streets. And bjw, if you think making Kent one way will slow down traffic instead of speeding it up, you're bonkers.

Posted by: dittoburg at August 17, 2009 1:43 PM

Is this all because of the stupid bike lanes, and the protest over lost parking spaces by our religious friends in south williamsburg?

oh - but kent is going to be residential (someday) - so lets make it safer for the stroller moms over on kent, by shooing the problem off on less wealthy stroller moms on Wythe and Berry.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at August 17, 2009 2:34 PM

Yes, this is puzzling. I like the idea of Kent Ave. going only north - it's an idea that's convenient to me as a Fort Greene driver, so I ought to love it. But there's still a significant amount of industry on Kent which means truck traffic.

Bloomberg has been VERY friendly to developers, and while much of this boro-wide street redesign shares the appearnace of laudatory motives allowing bikes, pedestrians, green this and green that, if you scratch the surface you'll find cynical real estate deals and alliances intended only to line certain pockets.

Another prime example has been the redirection of public transit on DeKalb (the B38 bus) in order to make the huuuuge Albee Square development more appealing. This change doubles commuting time for tens of thousands of bus riders who count on transfer to train connections, just to benefit a big real estate developer.

The Bloomberg administration, including Sadik Khan, should think carefully about these plans. Industry and jobs represent an important part of the vitality of our communities and when these are sacrificed, we all lose.

Posted by: Stonergut at August 17, 2009 2:55 PM

stroller mom is most likely stroller grandmom and the wife of Isaac Abraham, city council candidate. How many votes have you promised Bloomberg to get your street parking back?

Posted by: sosnowski at August 17, 2009 3:16 PM

dittoburg, it's not really the one-way change that will slow people down. The parking on both sides will take care of that: it'll stop looking like a highway, and look much more like Wythe currently does. Drivers will have to be more cautious out of necessity.

The truck traffic argument is pretty silly - except for local deliveries, why can't they be diverted to McGuinness and the BQE?

Posted by: bjw2103 at August 17, 2009 3:33 PM

"The truck traffic argument is pretty silly - except for local deliveries, why can't they be diverted to McGuinness and the BQE?"

yes, its a silly argument, miraculously levitate the trucks over the streets and blocks in between Kent and McGuiness and we'll be all set.

If you want to slow traffic on Kent, and I'm all for that, put in traffic lights outside the entrance to the park there. That way you'll slow traffic and reduce the chance of an accident that is waiting to happen with all the dizzy hipsters meandering across Kent at that point.

Posted by: dittoburg at August 17, 2009 3:44 PM

dittoburg, snark notwithstanding, the whole point is to get the trucks off Kent altogether unless they're making local deliveries. Otherwise, if they have to travel southbound, have them go up Kent to Franklin, turn on Greenpoint, and connect to McGuinness there. No levitation required. And yes, they should add lights or stop signs along Kent as well, but I think this is a good first step. Check this out: http://www.brooklyn11211.com/archive/2009/06/better-kent.html

Posted by: bjw2103 at August 17, 2009 4:35 PM

It's fascinating that both those for it and those against it are saying their position is "for the children."

Posted by: bkkkkklyn at August 17, 2009 5:29 PM

It is fascinating that you being childless and menopausal makes you imagine reading "it's for the children". Go back to sleep you naive twit.

Posted by: sosnowski at August 17, 2009 6:07 PM

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August 17, 2009

Kent Ave Goes One-Way Today

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