Public Plaza for Downtown Brooklyn
More news about the Albee Square area this morning. The Brooklyn Eagle reports that one block of DeKalb Avenue at the Fulton Mall will be shut down to traffic to make way for walkers instead. The strip of street will be joined to an existing island, to make a bigger public plaza. “The design of…
More news about the Albee Square area this morning. The Brooklyn Eagle reports that one block of DeKalb Avenue at the Fulton Mall will be shut down to traffic to make way for walkers instead. The strip of street will be joined to an existing island, to make a bigger public plaza. “The design of this plaza — to include new street furniture, new lighting, new trees and the submerging of what is now an above-ground subway vent structure — has been approved at all levels, including Community Board 2 and, more recently, the NYC Arts Commission,” they write. The DOT convened a meeting on the subject last night, as closing the streets and altering the square “requires changes to the transportation element.” Fulton Street is narrow, with two-way traffic; DeKalb, Bond and Gold, which surround the area, are all one-ways. There are no traffic signals, cars must yield to pedestrians or force their way through pedestrians, and there are no crosswalks for pedestrians heading east on the north side of Fulton,” said a rep from the MTA. “Under the new configuration, traffic on DeKalb will turn south on Bond, turn west onto Fulton and then north onto Gold. Vehicles traveling north on Bond will continue to jog west on Fulton then turn north on Gold — but now there will be traffic signals at Gold and Fulton.” This is just one facet of a $12.5 million plaza and street reconstruction along the Fulton Mall.
Block of DeKalb Will Close For Larger Public Square [Brooklyn Eagle]
Rendering from the Brooklyn Eagle.
What are you all on about? The bus has to go through one extra traffic light. One! The total extra travel distance for the bus is 50 feet, tops. Why is this such a big deal?
The thing that totally stuns me about this proposal is that it runs exactly counter to the arguments the DOT made earlier in the year to justify the removal of parking spots on DeKalb Ave. in order to reduce congestion on that route.
I don’t know who is doing the thinking at the DOT but they’re certainly not working as a team.
You’re right, I had forgotten about the B38 Limited, which is of limited *yuck, yuck* use to me. That’s the bus that goes by half-empty while four, completely-packed, regular B38s show up at the same time, right?
Interesting observation about the affect that the bike lane (and associated parking restrictions) have had on traffic speed, since bike lanes are often touted as helping to “calm” traffic.
There is a “Limited” Express bus operating as a B38, since earlier this summer. It has been very popular – in the morning at Vanderbilt Ave. I have seen 30+ people waiting for the Limited.
The article did NOT talk about an express bus, you’re right. However, if you’ve been paying attention to traffic in the downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene Area, you would know that traffic has increased at least twofold and increased in speed since the implemtation of the DOTs new parking regulations on DeKalb Ave. as well as the addition of the new bike lane coupled with the new B38 Express Limited. ON DeKalb in the morning, cars weeaving in and out of the bike and bus lanes at speeds approaching 50 mph are not uncommon.
This planned bottleneck completely reverses any of the increased thru traffic to downtown Brooklyn.
All of sudden it starts looking like a noise and pollution nightmare, just so some rich folks can have a nice view.
Hunh? The B38 is not an express bus. The B38 is used by many people of color (see note) from Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy. How does a zig to the left on to Bond and a zag to the right on to Fulton, even with two new (to the B38) traffic lights, add 15 minutes to a trip downtown? Or constitute “going around the block” for that matter? And who said anything about increasing vehicle speed on DeKalb Avenue? Stonergut, did you read the same article I did?
Note: I am usually disinclined to use the term, “people of color,” but found it preferable to the phrases “the demographic of the Fulton Mall” and “the current minority shoppers.”
“Under the new configuration, traffic on DeKalb will turn south on Bond, turn west onto Fulton and then north onto Gold. Vehicles traveling north on Bond will continue to jog west on Fulton then turn north on Gold — but now there will be traffic signals at Gold and Fulton.”
OK Will someone in charge of this PLEASE explain WHY IN HELL THEY HAVE INCREASED TRAFFIC VOLUME ON DEKALB AVE. FOR AN EXPRESS BUS????? How is going around the block by Bond St. going to help things? This is SO obviously a way to change the demographic of the Fulton Mall to prevent the current minority shoppers travelling the the new upscale shops these cretins envision. Anybody remember there’s a 1000 unit luxury apartment building going up at the former Albee Mall? They probably don’t want the Hoi Polloi cluttering up their lobby : P
Taking this trip around the block adds at least 15 minutes to a trip from Ft. Greene to Brooklyn Heights.
I don’t see increasing the speed of traffic on DeKalb to 40-50 MPH in the right hand lane for the “Limited Express” service makes a whole hell of a lot of sense.
This has to be viewed in a regional way, not as a micro study of a few blocks of the B38 Bus on the Fulton Mall.
Totally idiotic.
i hate the phrase “street furniture”. and the peroples that are put in all the architects renderings are so creepy. but all in all it’s a good idea.
*rob*