Together, City Councilmember Brad Lander, residents of Kensington, and
transportation safety advocates presented a petition for improved pedestrian safety at the Church Avenue crossing of Ocean Parkway to the staff at Governor Cuomo's Manhattan office.
Calls and e-mails Mr. Lander received from constituents distraught over the death of Ngozi Agbim under the wheels of a "big rig" inspired Lander to create the petition, "Our Neighborhood Is Not a Highway," which amassed 831 signatures.
Constituents demanded to know why the safety measures they voted for during the participatory budgeting process in March 2012, to be funded by money set aside in Councilmember Lander's budget, hadn't been implemented.
After hearing from Councilmember Lander and State Assemblymember Jim Brennan, the New York State Department of Transportation wrote a letter on August 13th to Mr. Brennan and others stating that it is studying the intersection and considering improvements, including the ones District 39 voted for.
New York CBS Local reported that on Wednesday, August 21st "the state DOT said it had worked out the problem with the design and will soon move forward."
Streetsblog quoted NYS DOT as saying on Thursday "'We’re in general agreement about the improvements, with some details still to be ironed out,'" spokesperson Adam S. Levine said in an e-mail to Streetsblog.
"The improvements include a pedestrian refuge island on the north crosswalk…protective barriers, lane channelization, additional signage and modifications to the traffic signals at the intersection."State DOT says it expects "'to work out the details in the coming days,'" with a final design before mid-September."
