By Rachel Holliday Smith, DNAinfo.com
A local community board committee approved two new bike lanes and traffic calming measures in Crown Heights, but rejected specific pedestrian safety changes proposed for one of the area’s most dangerous intersections.
The Department of Transportation’s safety proposal for Crown Heights side streets suggests installing two new bike lanes on St. Johns and Sterling places, part of a plan to more clearly mark traffic and parking lanes on two streets where drivers regularly speed, the agency said.
The new cycling lanes would run from Grand Army Plaza to Ralph Avenue on St. Johns Place, and from Kingston to Vanderbilt avenues on Sterling Place, the DOT said.
Improving the side streets became a priority for DOT under the mayor’s Vision Zero pedestrian safety initiative after the agency found 680 people have been injured or killed in crashes on both streets within five years.
On Tuesday night, Brooklyn Community Board 8’s transportation committee voted to approve the bike lane proposal, but voted down a second portion of the plan that would restrict a left-hand turn from Utica Avenue onto St. Johns Place, the third most dangerous crossing for pedestrians in Brooklyn, according to five years of crash and injury data, DOT said.
The vote came after input from more than two dozen residents on the proposal, committee vice chair Rob Witherwax said in an email.
Ultimately, he said the committee felt the Utica Avenue turn restriction was “insufficiently protective of pedestrian safety, unduly restrictive to traffic mobility” and “premature” in light of possible street changes made by express bus service on the B46 bus.
Despite their rejection of the turn, the committee recognized the intersection is “very problematic” and encouraged the DOT to come back to the board with other suggestions for improvements for the crossing in the future, Witherwax said.
A DOT spokesperson said the agency will continue to study the intersection and hopes to present “other options to the board in the near future.” Residents can expect to see the safety improvements on St. Johns and Sterling places installed within 2016, pending full board support.
CB8 will consider the proposal at next month’s full board meeting, scheduled for Thursday, March 10, at Calvary Community Church, 1575 St. Johns Pl., at 7 p.m.
Bike lanes on St. Johns Pl would be a disaster’ this would further clog the neighborhood with undue traffic. Sign the petition on Change. Org….Oppose the St. Johns/ Sterling Pl proposal!
CB8 will consider the proposal at next month’s full board meeting, scheduled for Thursday, March 10, at Calvary Community Church, 1575 St. Johns Pl., at 7 p.m.
So we can’t go even if we wanted to
You are incorrect; get your facts straight, there are no members of anash on Community Board 8, rather the members of anash are members of Community Board 9.
Is it going to be on Kingston itself? That would be a disaster for both drivers and the cyclists. Not even the most innocent and safe drivers would be able to avoid the the cyclists zipping past them on their right as the driver tries to make a right turn. I think most drivers know exactly what the trouble is.
Why we need this in CH ? Kingston must be free for parking on Friday-Saturday-Sunday and all pre holiday season …. The bicycle lane will add more problems to park on Kinston and near by streets …..
I understand that you want all Yuppies here but pls vote No !!!
If they want to improve safety, have cop cars waiting for speeding cars to pass, pull them over and if they are going more than 30MPH over the limit, arrest them and impound their cars.
If all of these changes make you unhappy, just be aware, that this community board has few members of Anash who are on that board, and are voting for all of these very inconvenient changes. So next time when you are stuck in traffic on Kingston and anywhere around CH, just remember that our own members voted for this madness. You can find out who they are on line