NAG and TA Call for Safety Improvements in Response to Cyclist's Death

In response to the death of 33 year-old Greenpoint cyclist Solange Raulston in a crash this weekend, Transportation Alternatives and NAG are calling for long-overdue safety improvements to the intersection of Nassau Avenue and McGuiness Boulevard. Raulston, a Greenpoint resident and well known DJ, was struck by a truck while cycling westbound on Nassau Avenue last Saturday.

Between 1995 and 2005, there were 34 crashes involving bicyclists or pedestrians at this intersection, and two fatalities, making it the most dangerous intersection in North Brooklyn. The Department of Design and Construction is using federal stimulus funds to reconstruct Nassau Avenue along most of its length by 2012, but safety improvements to the intersection with McGuiness Boulevard are not a significant feature of the plan.

T.A. and NAG are calling for additional traffic calming measures that take into account the high number of pedestrians, cyclists and trucks that traverse the intersection, including:

• Extend the curbs into the street on all corners to slow turning vehicles and shorten crossings for pedestrians
• Install wider refuge medians on McGuiness Boulevard
• Open sight lines at all corners by removing one parking spot on each corner of McGuiness Boulevard
• Give more walk time to pedestrians crossing McGuiness Boulevard

"Seldom does a week pass without flowers being laid in someone's memory at this dangerous crossing," says Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "No one should underrate the necessity of making the most dangerous intersection in North Brooklyn safer. Now is the time for the City to act."

"The North Brooklyn community has long been asking the City to make safety improvements at this hazardous intersection," said Lacey Tauber, Chair of NAG's Transportation Working Group. "This tragic incident is a grim reminder that the City needs to rethink its street designs to give priority to the most vulnerable users. We ask the City to address the community's concerns as quickly as possible, before another tragedy occurs here."

Image via Gothamist via Google Maps.

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

Friday May 15: Make the Pulaski Safe for Everybody!

PULASKI BRIDGE WALK - RIDE - RALLY!

~With pathway feeling the crunch, walkers and bikers rally for more breathing room~

Friday, May 15 @ 6 pm - evening commute
Jackson Avenue and 11th Street, Long Island City (Queens entrance to Pulaski Bridge)
March, ride, and rally for safer conditions on the Pulaski Bridge

After Party at the Creek, 10-93 Jackson Ave, LIC, Happy Hour until 9:00 p.m. Closest Public Transportation: 7 Train to Vernon/Jackson or B61 Bus to Jackson Ave and 11th Street

Biking Notes

Promoting the Brooklyn Greenway

The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative is conducting traffic monitoring to study traffic patterns on the planned greenway route. You can help by counting cars/users of the bike lane, etc. this weekend!

We need volunteers Saturday April 4th for the following shifts:
Flushing Ave: 8-9a, 12-1p, 6-7p
Kent Ave: 8-9a, 12-1p
Contact Kevin Vincent: guerilla42@yahoo.com

Installing New Bike Racks

This project seeks to identify locations for new bike racks in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. You can help with outreach to local business owners, as well as technology (online mapping, making an informational film, etc). Contact Kevin Vincent: guerilla42@yahoo.com

Make a Safer Pulaski Bridge

This project is advocating for a protected bike lane over the Pulaski Bridge. You can help with outreach to local community organizations, by writing letters of support to local elected officials and the DOT, and by attending a rally walk/ride at the bridge on May 15 from 6-8pm.
Contact Marin Tockman: marin.tockman@gmail.com

Bike Share Coming to North Brooklyn in June

The Forum for Urban Design will bring a bike share demonstration project to the neighborhood during the first two weeks of June. You can work as a paid supervisor at a station for multiple days, volunteer to staff a station, translate promotional material, or sponsor a location for the bike share.
Contact Loreal Monroe: loreal@forumforurbandesign.org

Recent Bike Safety News

We desperately need a separated bike path on the Pulaski bridge. In the meantime, please be careful, slow down while passing pedestrians and either ring your bell or say "passing on your left" before passing.

Drivers who kill pedestrians are rarely prosecuted, let alone investigated. Gotham Gazette takes a closer look at why.

Robert Sullivan proposed a code of conduct for bikers to be more responsible on the road.

What it looks like to be passed too closely by cars while biking (albeit in Wisconsin). Imagine a lane of cars parked on the right side whose doors could open without warning and it would be more like NYC.

Did you see a bike accident on Friday?

Did you see this accident at Lorimer and Bedford Ave near the Nassau G? If you did, please contact the victim

Today, Friday March 13, 2009 at approx. 1:20pm I was riding with traffic on Bedford Ave, approaching the intersection of Lorimer St. I was hit by a silver Chrysler sedan (who was a car service car) turning right on to Lorimer. I was wearing a silver windbreaker, riding a black + red track bike with white rims (yes, with a front brake and yes, I was wearing a helmet).

I counted at 5 to 10 people in the area who I believe saw the accident take place. However, no one would come forward as a witness. One mustached fellow (Thank you, whoever you may be) took pictures, but I didn't get a chance to get his name before leaving in the ambulance. Sadly, he did not arrive until moments after the accident happened.

I was not too seriously injured but suffered pretty nasty bruising on my legs, arm, face, and pretty serious abrasions on my left hand.

I am baffled as to why no one came forward as a witness. I do not believe that at that intersection (Bedford and Lorimer), with multiple people around, two or three very popular restaurants (practically one per corner), not one person saw the accident take place.

If you were in the area and saw it happen, please, come forward. It's the right thing to do.

via FreeWilliamsburg

NYPD called on to "commit to a Vision Zero policy for traffic fatalities"

A letter from local business owner Steve Hindy appeared in Transportation Alternative's magazine about changing the NYPD's approach to investigating bike accidents. The whole letter is worth a read, but a key excerpt is below:

Early on August 6, 2008, [Greenpoint resident] Rasha Shamoon was riding east on Delancey Street when she was struck and killed by an SUV traveling northbound on Bowery. Police interviewed the 21-year-old driver and his two young passengers who blamed the unconscious and dying woman. No other witnesses were interviewed, even though several people reported the crash to 911. No skid marks were measured. Remarkably, although the SUV driver had six prior motor vehicle convictions, he was allowed to leave the scene after giving a statement. Shamoon, 31, a lecturer at Hunter and City colleges, was the daughter of a physician who fled tyranny in Iraq in the late 1970s. She was by all accounts a wonderful person and responsible bicyclist. Her bike had front and back running lights and was swathed in reflector tape.

Photo from mlendo

Bike Accident at Franklin and Greenpoint

This account of a bike accident at Franklin and Greenpoint earlier in the month is horrifying. The victim (who is the father of a young child) appeared to be going with the light (at an intersection where there are on-road bike markings in all directions), but was hit by an 18 wheeler making a turn. He has a lot of broken bones and is in recovery at Bellvue.

We need more bike safety education for both drivers and bikers in the neighborhood.

Via "The-Know-All"

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