AN UPDATE IS POSTED AT "ALBEMARLE ACTIVISM BRINGS SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS"
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Speeding cars and crash-prone intersections were on residents' minds nearly exclusively at the Community Board 12 meeting on Tuesday: almost every speaker--and there were a lot of them--focused on the hazards of crossing a street or standing on a sidewalk.
Two major trouble spots they pointed out are Beverley Road at E. 2nd Street (speeding cars and a crash-prone intersection) and the entire stretch of Albemarle Road from Ocean Parkway to McDonald Avenue (also speeding cars and multiple crash-prone intersections).
Just last week, the driver of a Honda Civic, who is believed to have gone through the stop sign on E. 4th Street, crashed into an ambulette on Albemarle Road, knocking it on its side, trapping its patient inside for twenty minutes, and causing it to hit a parked SUV. The hurst tool ("jaws of life") was used to extricate the patient from the vehicle. The ambulette passenger and two other people were taken to a hospital. Residents say that the crash on Albemarle prior to this one involved seven vehicles.
Meanwhile, Eva, mother of the owner (Benny) of the recently-opened Beverley Pizza and Cafe on E. 2nd Street at Beverley Road, was struck when a car on Beverley turned right onto E. 2nd too quickly and hit a parked car, which hit another, which hit another, and so on. One of the parked cars ended up on the sidewalk where Eva was standing, not far from the pizzeria. Eva, walking with the assistance of a cane, spoke at the community board meeting.
Fairly recently, the Department of Transportation (DOT) did traffic studies on
these long-problematic locations and determined that no traffic-calming measures were
needed. Our City Councilmember, Brad Lander, has asked DOT to study
Albemarle again, and the agency has agreed to do it in July.