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