The intersection of McDonald and Caton avenues
A seemingly never-ending caravan of trucks dominates McDonald Avenue, Caton Avenue, and Church Avenue daily. The streets are residential, but they also serve as the designated commercial truck route for New York State Route 27.
Caton
is a local truck route, for use by trucks with an origin or destination
within Brooklyn. Church is a through truck route, for use by trucks
with neither an origin nor a destination within Brooklyn.
Semi-trailer
trucks ("eighteen-wheelers," big rigs") rumble through these
streets--one of which is a main shopping street--just a few feet away
from houses, apartment buildings, a funeral home, a playground, elementary schools, the post office, restaurants with customers eating outdoors, and benches occupied by people relaxing and talking.
When
pedestrians are crossing Caton--including some who are pushing
strollers, holding children's hands, pulling shopping carts, walking
dogs, or carrying groceries--they can find themselves trapped in the
crosswalk. They've got a truck in front of them making a right turn and
another behind them doing the same thing.
The two trucks only got partially through the intersection because so many cars and trucks are lined up on Caton, waiting for the traffic light at E. 2nd or even E. 3rd to turn green.
Pedestrians have to decide which is safer for them: walking in traffic
around the front of the truck or the back. Or standing in the crosswalk
until the trucks complete the turns, then hustling across before the
next trucks execute the maneuver.
Once in a while, pedestrians are prevented from stepping into the crosswalk to cross Caton because a driver has made too
sharp of a right turn from Caton onto McDonald by the Mobil station and
driven over the curb and partially onto the sidewalk.
Tractor-trailers
can be up to 55 feet in length to travel on truck routes. The maximum
weight limit is up to 80,000 pounds. These huge, heavy vehicles are just
not appropriate for our neighborhood streets.
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Two changes were instituted recently that promote pedestrian safety:
1. The NYPD assigned school crossing guards to McDonald at Fort Hamilton Parkway and McDonald at Caton.
The guards are present on weekdays, crossing children on their way to school in the morning and on their way home in the afternoon.
2. Countdown timers were installed on the traffic lights at both intersections.
When a green traffic light turns red and blinks, the familiar red hand appears and the countdown begins. Pedestrians know how much time they have to cross the street, and they can make an informed decision about whether to stay or go.
The number of seconds on the countdown timer varies, depending on traffic conditions.
countdown timer at McDonald Ave. and Fort Hamilton Parkway