NAG Supports Updated Kent Avenue Redesign

NAG's Transportation Working Group advocates for safer streets and better/safer transit options in North Brooklyn. The Department of Transportation recently presented its updated redesign plan for Kent Avenue to Community Board 1 (view the presentation here.) The Transportation Working Group responded with the following letter to Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn, expressing our support for the plan and making recommendations for improving pedestrian safety, prioritizing the future Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, and minimizing the potential impacts of a truck traffic reroute.

To volunteer with the NAG Transportation Working Group, please contact transportation@nag-brooklyn.org

Dear Commissioner Sadik-Kahn:

Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) is a community-based advocacy organization serving North Brooklyn. On behalf of the residents of this neighborhood, we want to thank the Department of Transportation for your efforts to resolve the issues surrounding the redesign of Kent Avenue and let you know that we strongly support the new design.

We appreciate your listening to community suggestions in response to the implementation of the first redesign. We also appreciate your commitment to safe cycling and future realization of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, which will be an asset to our community. We are particularly excited about increased connectivity between Bedford and Kent Avenues and increased safety for cyclists via the floating lanes. We are also pleased to see that the new plan restores loading zones for our local businesses.

However, we still have a few concerns that we would like to address. The foremost of these is pedestrian safety. As you know, Kent Avenue is quickly changing from an industrial to a residential street. In addition, the East River State Park, particularly with its increased programming in the summer months, regularly draws large crowds including families. We need more attention to this increase in pedestrian traffic immediately -- many intersections, such as N. 8th (at the entrance to the park), N. 4th, and N. 14th, would almost certainly qualify for traffic lights now. The community simply cannot wait for another lengthy study -- the danger is already there. We also urge that the final design narrow the crossing distance on Kent for pedestrians as much as possible.

In addition, we request that the DOT replace only the number of parking spaces that will be available upon completion of the greenway, and look into placing planters within the buffer as a preview of the greenway's landscaping.

Finally, as you are aware, there is much concern in the neighborhood about the truck traffic that will be rerouted to Wythe Avenue and North 11th Street. We encourage you to implement traffic calming measures, such as stop signs, traffic lights, neckdowns and/or road diets on these streets, and to maintain open communication with the community during and after the plan's implementation to assess the implications of this rerouting.

We thank you again for your attention to this issue and we look forward to a dialogue with you as this project moves forward.

Sincerely,
Lacey Tauber, Kevin Vincent, Michael Freedman-Schnapp, and Alexandra Sweet
NAG Transportation Working Group

image via Gowanus Lounge

Support the New Kent Avenue Bike Lane This Wednesday!

This came to us from the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative. The new bike lanes on Kent Ave are a massive improvement in safety over its previous incarnation of "truck-bike death races."

Next we need some traffic lights to help people get across the street and to keep drivers from going 50 mph on the long stretches without any lights. And after that, we can get the full greenway built, which will benefit pedestrians as well as bikers, and will add hundreds of street trees.

Please attend tomorrow night's Brooklyn Community Board 1 meeting to speak out in favor of the new Kent Avenue bike lane, a key route in the Brooklyn bike network and a vital link in the future Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.

CB1 Transportation Committee Meeting
Wednesday, November 12th, 6:30PM
211 Ainslie Street, corner of Manhattan Avenue, Williamsburg
Registration for public speaking ENDS at 6:15PM (be sure to get there by 6:00PM and sign up!)

The new Kent Avenue bike lane is already filling up with cyclists. But despite broad public support, the lane has its detractors. It is imperative that local cyclists and supporters of livable streets attend Wednesday night's meeting, sign up to and continue to speak in favor of this important transportation improvement for the neighborhood, for now and for the future!

Update: Photo courtesty I'm Just Sayin
More coverage at I'm Just Sayin