Boerum Place Median A Wrap
Several politicians and public officials turned out yesterday to celebrate the completion of the Boerum Place planted median. From left to right in this photo, you’ve got Joe Palmieri, DOT Borough Commissioner; John Dew, Community Board #2; Seth Pinsky, President of NYCEDC; Joe Chan, President of Downtown Brooklyn Partnership; David Yassky, Councilmember; Marty Markowitz, Borough…
Several politicians and public officials turned out yesterday to celebrate the completion of the Boerum Place planted median. From left to right in this photo, you’ve got Joe Palmieri, DOT Borough Commissioner; John Dew, Community Board #2; Seth Pinsky, President of NYCEDC; Joe Chan, President of Downtown Brooklyn Partnership; David Yassky, Councilmember; Marty Markowitz, Borough President; Edolphus Towns, Congressmember; Carl Hum, President of Chamber of Commerce. The new median runs all the way from Atlantic Avenue to Fulton Street, and brings order what used to be one of the more hectic traffic spots in the Downtown area. The ride down this stretch is also a little smoother now, as the road was just repaved.
Boerum Place Getting Spruced Up [Brownstoner]
this photo smells. if politicians spent half the time doing things as they spend taking credit for things we’d be much better off. median is great but for goodness sake. save the back patting for something significant.
LC, the new raised median was not installed as a pedestrain refuge. The previously paint-only median was made more formal to physically separate the cars making turns on to northbound Adams Street from both directions. After the signal sequence was changed, as you note, cars used to crash into each other; now they crash into the median. I have heard that the Department of Transportation is going to paint a dashed line through the intersection to help drivers end up in the correct lane.
Am I the only one confused by the pedestrian island that has appeared on Adams at the corner of Atlantic on the northbound side in front of the HOD?
The effect has been to create one lane for those turning left off Atlantic onto Adams and two lanes for those turning right off Adams. The first time I saw it was a couple of weeks ago and everytime I drive by, there are more tire tracks and skidmarks on it where cars have driven up on the thing. DOT put up one of those black and yellow striped signs on it to make it more obvious and that was also knocked down.
It was only three lanes of traffic before the median, and the lights were timed so that cars were not turning at the same time. Why exactly was $20k of cement needed when pedestrians only have to cross three lanes before they reach the median? The light is timed to allow pedestrians to make it across six lanes of traffic, so that even the elderly or those with strollers, small children etc should have been able to make it to the median.
Lets also mention that the bike lane that used to end at Fulton has also been extended to Atlantic… for what it’s worth.
clintonhillybuyer, get used to certain neighborhoods getting token gestures and others getting showcase renovations.
I grew up in deep Brooklyn and this kind of lip service and inequity in public amenities is par for the course.
I don’t have any official word on the tree pits set in the raised median on Venderbilt but I do know it’s too hot to plant right now. The planting seasons for trees are generally mid-March to mid-May and mid-October to mid-December, weather permitting of course.
Question:
DOT has installed medians on Vanderbilt Ave in prospect heights as well, but as of yet appears to have done nothing about actually planting anything in the medians which appear to be overrun by weeds in the last month or so. Anyone know whats going on there? Are they planning on doing anything with this stip? It could be a great streetscape improvement on Vandy if they manage to get a plant or two in there! Maybe even a tree!
Smeryer418, I love change. But if you enter the bridge from Adams St. At tillary you have no choice but to go straight onto the bridge, you cannot turn left onto Tillary, which is idiotic and if you want to turn rightonto Tillary you cannot do that because to turn right you have to enter the service road in front of the Marriot which is about 1/2 mile back on Adams. Not only does this confuse people who do not know the road it makes the service road more crowded in front of the hotel which is bad enough with hotel traffic. So in a sense Adams street is just an extension of the bridge all the way to the Marriot. This makes no sense to me, So maybe you are talking about the entrance to the bridge fron Tillary st. Which seems to work fine most of the time except for the slow poke drivers who have a hard time making the sharp turn onto the bridge. Of course it would help if the right turn arrow could also last more than 15 seconds.
Billyboomer if you read brownstoner this(no left turns) was announced before they made the change here. It has always been no right turn from the central road way. It is also signed and there were big portable notice signs about no turns. You can in fact get off on the right after the tillery street entrance to the Bridge. It has made the movement much smoother except for those still making illegal turns.
Mostly the change has been hailed as a success except by those who can’t stand change.