Mulling How to Make a Stretch of Atlantic Safer
NY1 reports on how the Boerum Hill Association and Councilman Levin have created a task force to examine possible traffic-calming measures on Atlantic Avenue west of 4th Avenue. From the story: “‘If there’s few enough obstacles for traffic, cars will go 50 miles per hour, easy, here on Atlantic,’ said Brooklyn City Councilman Stephen Levin….
NY1 reports on how the Boerum Hill Association and Councilman Levin have created a task force to examine possible traffic-calming measures on Atlantic Avenue west of 4th Avenue. From the story: “‘If there’s few enough obstacles for traffic, cars will go 50 miles per hour, easy, here on Atlantic,’ said Brooklyn City Councilman Stephen Levin. ‘So I think that we’re looking at measures that would have a broad effect of reducing the average speed.’ ‘The re-timing of the lights and red light cameras posted would be another dramatic move for Atlantic Avenue,’ said Howard Kolins, president of the Boerum Hill Association. It’s not just Atlantic Avenue that the task force is taking a look at, it’s also the streets in the neighborhood surrounding it. One concern is that motorists looking to avoid Atlantic Avenue wind up speeding on side streets.” According to city and state stats, there were five fatalities on Atlantic from 4th Avenue to Hicks Street from 2005 through 2010; the DOT says it will meet with the task force this month.
Boerum Hill Residents Take On Traffic Issues [NY1]
Or, if you really want a terrible idea, ditch even bike lanes, and go for this:
http://laughingsquid.com/3d-optical-illusion-painted-on-street-to-make-drivers-slow-down/
(and I am, btw, an excellent driver. Behind the wheel since age 16 in CA, never (knock wood) had a moving violation. Not all us nyc residents* are terrible at it.)
It seems a little odd, but one real way to improve my driving on Atlantic would be to fix the goddamn potholes. That street is like driving across the front lines of WWI – huge trenches every fifteen yards. Cars are swerving around them, losing some control recovering from hitting them, etc. etc. Slows shit down and makes it unpredictable.
(And, imho, Atlantic seems like an insane place to put a bike lane. Don’t do it. And I say that as an ardent, holier-than-thou biker.)
not a traffic light one. If you remember fixing parking tickets got a lot of people into trouble(some with jail time). Once a traffic light ticket is issued its collected on by the NY City Department of Finance….not easy to fix….really…
“It was supposedly removed because it caught so many pd and judges..”
Any judge or PO worth his salt should have no trouble fixing a traffic ticket.
Drivers speed down Atlantic and then turn right without looking onto Hoyt Street, where they routinely run the red lights at the cross streets. If you sit and watch the intersection of Dean and Hoyt for 10 minutes, you will see 10 cars go through the red light. What’s scary is that you can’t see around the corner because the house on the corner goes right up to the sidewalk. There have been several serious accidents on that corner in the past 5 yrs.
The fatalities are only part of the story – there are also numerous other accidents that don’t result in death. The speed limit on these roads is 35 and anything that brings driving speeds down to these levels like red light cameras or neck downs is a very good idea.
“It was supposedly removed because it caught so many pd and judges….”
Yeah I can see where that would be a problem!
http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/stats.htm
City is limited by law to 50 now a 100 red light cameras. There was one taking pictures of southbound BB Blvd by Atlantic Avenue. It was supposedly removed because it caught so many pd and judges….