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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.

Bikes, Bike Lanes and Bike Love

Bikes and bike safety have been a big topic around the neighborhood lately. In early September, Simon Wiesser of Community Board 1 voiced opposition to a proposed bike lane on Kent Avenue that was approved back in April.

According to the Brooklyn Paper, Weisser wants further review of the Kent Ave lane; he is also proposing shutting down the bike lanes on Wythe and Bedford when the Brooklyn Greenway is finished. Since the meeting, the issue has received much media attention due to complaints that the bikers are an affront to Chasidic religious ideals, as they are often women who don't conform to religious dress codes. (Apparently men can bike in whatever they want.)

However, before you assume that the Chasids are all behind this argument, check out the discussion on the Yeshiva World website. There are many viewpoints expressed, including several urging that the group work with the rest of the community to promote safety for everyone.

Then, a few nights after the community board meeting, a biker was injured while biking along Kent Avenue. A witness alleges that the cyclist was thrown over his headbars when he hit the brakes to avoid colliding with an oncoming Northside Car Service car that was turning onto North Seventh. Gothamist says that the biker has met with Northside and received compensation for his injuries, but a friend of the cyclist is calling for a boycott of the car service.

A great place to read about issues like this is the CB1 Transport email list, run by the amazing Teresa Toro, member of CB1 and head of the transportation committee. You can join it here. Responses to current events have included asking that the police conduct bike safety seminars so that bicyclists are more aware of the rules of the road; requesting a DOT review of the situation on the Pulaski Bridge, where cyclists and pedestrians must share a narrow lane; lobbying for more bike lanes using census data; and many others. The group discusses more than just bikes—mass transit, trucking, and more all come up.

Finally, has anyone seen this guitar-shaped bike rack? Urbanite says it's on North 6th and Bedford. Designed by David Byrne, which is nice, but couldn't they have found an artist who lives here?


Photo by Sawung Gue, via a Creative Commons License

National Night Out August 5th

National Night Out is an event to promote neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships. Our local precincts are participating—I'm not sure exactly what they have planned but the website mentions barbecues, block parties, parades and contests!

National Night Out
Tuesday, August 5, 2008

5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Two locations:

The 90th precinct will have their festivities in Sternberg Park (Boerum between Lorimer
and Leonard).

The 94th pct will have its festivities in front of their precinct (Meserole between Manhattan and Lorimer).

Your local CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), will be at each event.


—Mikki