Kent Traffic Shifts to Wythe
[nggallery id=”35490″ template=galleryview] As we have been discussing, the Department of Transportation implemented one-way traffic on a portion of Kent Avenue, between Clymer and Broadway (download the plan from the DOT website). Since Kent Avenue was a major southbound thoroughfare, many trucks, cars, and construction vehicles have rerouted one block east to Wythe Avenue. The…
[nggallery id=”35490″ template=galleryview]
As we have been discussing, the Department of Transportation implemented one-way traffic on a portion of Kent Avenue, between Clymer and Broadway (download the plan from the DOT website). Since Kent Avenue was a major southbound thoroughfare, many trucks, cars, and construction vehicles have rerouted one block east to Wythe Avenue. The DOT, in its objectives for the restructuring of Kent Avenue, planned to install “new guide signs to inform truckers and other motorists of preferred routes: Greenpoint Avenue, McGuinness Boulevard, and Meeker Ave./BQE.” Currently, there is a sign on Kent Avenue, north of Broadway where traffic still runs two ways, reminding vehicles to turn left on Broadway, but no other signage telling drivers to continue on any recommended route. As when the DOT proposed these changes, some residents are concerned for public safety. One reader wrote to us saying, “it will probably take a major accident, hit-and-run, or other tragedy to get the DOT to consider policing the change in traffic pattern and to direct trucks to the correct route.” Hopefully it will not be so extreme, and the DOT can find an effective method for managing the southbound traffic. GMAP
Kent Ave Goes One-way Today [Brownstoner]
The Kent Avenue Conundrum [Brownstoner]
Boiling Point for Kent Avenue Bike Lane [Brownstoner]
Anyone been watching the 18 wheelers attempt to turn on or off of Wythe?
What a mess. Hint, do not park near the corners if you value your car.
Does anyone in government think of the consequences of their feel good actions?
I drove this yesterday, and there certainly was backed up traffic in areas that were out of the ordinary on Wythe etc…Personally I thought Kent was one of the best neighborhood go betweens in brooklyn — bed stuy, FG, Clinton Hill, W-Burg, and Greenpoint all accessed and exited in no time…Policing and stop signs would have been a much more affordable and logical solution. Didn’t they just repave this area in the last two years? Why was this not implemented then? Wasteful use of resources.
Whyte Avenue “you deserve the best” LOL
“It sure isn’t best for those who live work ,and play on wythe.”
I live just off Wythe, yet I disagree. Unless you’re convinced they’ll fail miserably at diverting the trucks properly (and frankly, once the drivers figure it out, they’ll avoid Wythe and all the stop-signs and pedestrians as much as possible), I see this as a win. Agreed there should be (and apparently will be) stop signs at Kent and North 5th and North 7th (and one or two others as well perhaps), but I don’t see any compelling reason to keep Kent the way it had been. It most definitely was an ersatz highway.
DOT is planning to put stop signs in a variety of places on Kent. N 5th for sure, probably N7th as well. I’m guessing that we’ll be seeing traffic lights on Kent when the highrises on the water are occupied.
Fanning out a bad situation onto several other streets is not a solution. It’s a band-aid.
Zinka, I DO hope you are right. I fear that you are really wrong.
Are we talking about the same Kent avenue? There’s a *ton* of bike traffic.
Can we all just see how it works out in a couple months? It’ll be fine. Really.
I drive on Kent every day and it is far from a highway. There is always the odd miscreant, but in general traffic is moving at a reasonable speed. The cops do stake it out from time to time on the northside.
The bigger point is that there is very little bike or foot traffic on Kent to warrant all of this.
The only time that there is a lot of pedestrian traffic is when there is a free concert in the park.
It was bad enough when they took away the parking. Kent as it is now is wide open and pleasant.
I think that it will be more chaotic and dangerous with one lane and parking close by. I predict some doors getting taken off.
The changes to Kent Ave should be better for the entire community – calmer traffic on Kent (it is a highway), better access for business, better greenway layout and more parking (frankly, the least of my concerns).
But DOT seems determined to implement this change with the same ham-fisted lack of planning, mitigation and foresight that they brought to the original changes. Maybe they figure the third time will be the charm?