Safety Improvements Approved for 4th Avenue
Brooklyn’s 4th Avenue has long been a dangerous proposition for pedestrians: Seven were killed between 2006 and 2011 with many others left to contemplate the likelihood of a similar fate while stranded on some of the narrowest medians in town. )nd just last month, three school children were injured by a turning driver at 44th…
Brooklyn’s 4th Avenue has long been a dangerous proposition for pedestrians: Seven were killed between 2006 and 2011 with many others left to contemplate the likelihood of a similar fate while stranded on some of the narrowest medians in town. )nd just last month, three school children were injured by a turning driver at 44th Street.) DOT’s been working for the last three years on a plan to address the concerns and on Wednesday night Community Board 7 voted overwhelmingly to green-light the re-engineering project, the first phase of which would stretch from 15th Street to 65th Street. StreetsBlog has a good summary of the changes:
Under the plan, the narrowest medians would at least triple in width, and wider ones would expand too. The pedestrian space will be reclaimed by converting 17-foot wide combined parking and travel lanes on each side of the street into 13-foot wide parking lanes, though three travel lanes will be maintained northbound during the morning rush, from 38th Street to 17th Street. The changes would be implemented with low-cost materials — epoxy, gravel, planters, flexible posts — and DOT can complete them by this fall.
If you want more nitty-gritty, check out DOT’s slideshow [PDF] on the link.
CB 7 Approves 50-Block Ped Safety Project for Fourth Ave [StreetsBlog]
Sounds like yes, from 3 narrow lanes to 2 wide lanes.
According the presentation, adding Loading Zones will help eliminate double parking, and the wide lanes will allow “more reliable” morning commute times, while reducing speeding at other times.
I’m willing to give it a try.
C: