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| Linden Boulevard Detour |
Update: From Assemblymember Carroll's September 26th newsletter:
It is clear from the meeting that the volume of traffic that DOT anticipates from this detour is inappropriate for East 5th Street and the already overburdened Caton Avenue. Community members and myself acknowledge that these repairs on the BQE are essential and must happen quickly, but we have specifically asked DOT to look at multiple alternate routes to fairly distribute this traffic burden, as well as to provide traffic agents at East 5th Street, 20th Street, Caton Avenue, and any other area in Windsor Terrace, Kensington or Prospect Park South that will be impacted by these detours.
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Update: Community Board 14's video of the meeting is posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFUMMEJKnY8. The meeting begins at minute 9:30.
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Update: Community Board 14 will livestream the meeting on its YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFUMMEJKnY8.
Update:
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Update:
Meeting Location
Gymnatorium
2nd floor (accessible by elevator)
(The Parkside Educational Complex, P.S. 130/M.S. 839)
713 Caton Avenue
between E. 7th and E. 8th streets
Windsor Terrace/Kensington, Brooklyn
Register for the meeting and also submit any questions you have at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/116D59kdMEJdUpjFyZL5TUuBqpcY91S4QEDQ9NEtIIMM/viewform?pli=1&pli=1&edit_requested=true, by sending an e-mail to Assemblymember Carroll's office at CarrollR@nyassembly.gov, or by calling his office at (718) 788-7221.
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Public Meeting about Proposed Detour
onto E. 5th Street and Caton Avenue
Thursday, September 22nd, 6:30 p.m.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) is planning interim repairs to the BQE in 2023 that would temporarily dump every southbound car and truck--including tractor trailers and other oversized trucks--from the Prospect Expressway onto E. 5th Street and Caton Avenue.
Assemblymember Robert Carroll will host a public meeting with DOT about the controversial detour plan on Thursday, September 22nd, at 6:30 p.m., along with Brooklyn Community Boards 7, 12, and 14 and City Councilmembers Shahana Hanif and Rita Joseph. Join them and the Transportation Committees of the three Community Boards for DOT's presentation about the proposed interim repairs and detours.
The DOT proposal would divert every southbound vehicle from the Prospect Expressway onto E. 5th Street--a narrow, one-way street--from Greenwood Avenue to Caton Avenue. Traffic would then turn left onto Caton Avenue.
This diversion is intended to facilitate repair work on the BQE, which will be done on unspecified overnights and on three unspecified weekends (Saturdays at 2:00 a.m. until Mondays at 4:00 a.m.) from March 2023 through October 2023.
DOT made a PowerPoint presentation to Community Boards 2 and 6, posted at Microsoft PowerPoint - 202200621_Public Outreach_Interim Repairs_For Distribution (cb14brooklyn.com). The proposal for E. 5th Street and Caton Avenue is shown on the map on page 42.
Video of the meeting at which the PowerPoint was presented to Community Board 2's Transportation & Public Safety Committee on June 16th is posted on YouTube here, starting at 1:02:04. Its presentation to Community Board 6's Transportation/Public Safety Committee on June 21st is posted on YouTube here.
Streetsblog, in its June 27th article "Carmageddon Likely from BQE Repair Work as DOT Will Detour Trucks into Residential Neighborhoods," reports
"One major eyebrow-raiser in the plan: When Queens-bound lanes are closed, freight traffic will be rerouted along Linden Boulevard after a circuitous detour from the highway’s Prospect Expressway exit around Prospect Park and to the east via Caton Avenue."
On June 29th, Robert Carroll, New York State Assemblymember for the 44th Assembly District, shared his reaction on social media:
"The East 5th St and Caton Ave truck detour during the planned weekend and night closures of the BQE triple cantilever is unacceptable.These residential blocks cannot bear the burden of all this traffic. Every community should help carry the load. I’ll be writing a letter and discussing alternate routes with NYC DOT to make sure this plan doesn’t go into effect when construction starts in March."
On June 30th, Assemblymember Carroll followed up with this post:
"After the announcement of NYC DOT’s plan to detour the vast majority of the BQE’s trucks during the closure of the BQE triple cantilever - I immediately wrote a letter and called DOT to express my concern and proactively devise a better plan.
Know that this plan is only a proposal, and my office will do everything in our power to make sure all of Brooklyn shoulders this truck traffic and not just Windsor Terrace and Kensington."
Below is Assemblymember Carroll's letter to DOT:
Streetsblog posted a second article on July 13th entitled "Community Leaders Slam DOT for Planned BQE Detours."