FORT HAMILTON PARKWAY OVERPASS CLOSURE

 

 

Closure of the Fort Hamilton Parkway overpass from Park Circle to E. 5th Street will start on Tuesday, June 15th. The existing barrier-protected lane will be widened to accommodate two-way bicycle traffic.

 

Community Board 7 provided this information.

 

The closure is part of the Department of Transportation's larger project of improving bicycle safety on Fort Hamilton Parkway from Park Circle to Dahill Road.

 

The DOT's presentation about the entire Fort Hamilton Parkway project is posted at https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/fort-hamilton-pkwy-aug2020.pdf.

PROTECTED BIKE LANE PROPOSED FOR FORT HAMILTON PARKWAY

Fort Hamilton Parkway Bike Lane

Monday, August 3rd, 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. 

The Department of Transportation will make a presentation online about the proposed protected bike lane for the Windsor Terrace portion of Fort Hamilton Parkway.

The DOT will meet online with Community Board 7's Transportation Committee meeting on Monday, August 3rd, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public. 

Originally scheduled for March, the meeting was postponed because of the pandemic. The DOT proposes to make improvements on Fort Hamilton Parkway, between Dahill Road and Park Circle, for safer, more direct bicycle routes connecting Prospect Park to Windsor Terrace and Kensington.

 

To attend the meeting, register at https://nyccb.webex.com/nyccb/onstage/g.php?MTID=e22245cee60150ad64aa5030127ae92be. 

Misinterpretation of last May's DOT presentation to the committee led to the spread of misinformation that alleged that twenty-five parking spaces would be lost. The net loss will be one space. See page 17 of the proposal (https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/fort-hamilton-pkwy-aug2020.pdf) for details.

PROTECTED BIKE LANE PROPOSAL FOR FORT HAMILTON PARKWAY IN WINDSOR TERRACE

UPDATE: Meeting postponed because of the pandemic.

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          Community Board 7 Transportation Committee Meeting
                               Monday, March 16th, 6:30 p.m.

Community Board 7's Transportation Committee will meet on Monday, March 16th, at 6:30 p.m. The agenda is as follows:

• Presentation from the MTA on its Brooklyn Bus Network Redesign: Existing Conditions Report

• Proposal by the New York City Department of Transportation to make improvements on Fort Hamilton Parkway, between Dahill Road and Park Circle, for safer, more direct bicycle routes connecting Prospect Park to Windsor Terrace and Kensington

See the full proposal for the protected bike lane here.

 

Committee meetings are open to the public.

Meeting location
Community Board 7 Office
4201 4th Avenue
entrance on 43rd Street
Sunset Park, Brooklyn

P.S. 130 IS SURROUNDED BY DANGEROUS STREETS AND INTERSECTIONS

Parent Call-in Campaign

Friday, December 19th

P.S. 130 is joining P.S. 230 in demanding safer streets for the students in these neighborhood schools. Call 311 to tell the Department of Transportation that you want

• school safety signage for all four streets surrounding the school: E. 5th Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway, Caton Avenue, and Ocean Parkway,
• crossing guards on E. 5th Street and on both sides of Ocean Parkway at Caton Avenue,
• a left turn signal at Caton Avenue and Ocean Parkway, and
• the addressing of the dangerous intersection at Caton Avenue and E. 7th Street.

Report one or two of the items listed above in your call to 311. Calls can be made anonymously. You don't need to be a parent or a guardian of a child in P.S. 130 or P.S. 230 in order to make this call.

VOTE FOR PROJECTS THAT WILL BENEFIT KENSINGTON AND WINDSOR TERRACE

Vote today and tomorrow for the projects that you, the residents of New York City Council District 39, want to spend $1,000,000 on.

The million dollars is part of the money that the city allocated to Councilmember Brad Lander's budget for fiscal year July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014.

Residents of Kensington, Windsor Terrace, and the other neighborhoods in District 39 will choose from thirteen proposed projects. Choose one, two, three, four, or five projects but not more than five.

Voting is open to people who are age sixteen or older who can show proof that they live in District 39. You don't have to be a U.S. citizen. You don't have to be registered to vote in federal, state, or city elections. Ballots are printed in multiple languages.

Vote today (Saturday, April 5th) from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., at the P.S. 230 Lower School, 425 McDonald Avenue, between Church Avenue and Albemarle Road, next to the post office.

Or vote tomorrow (Sunday, April 6th) at the Windsor Terrace Y, 1224 Prospect Avenue, at the corner of Vanderbilt Street.

Or vote in any of the voting locations listed in the poster above, if you live in District 39 and that location is more convenient for you.

Four projects directly impact both Kensington and Windsor Terrace:

1. Pedestrian Safety on McDonald Ave
Expanded sidewalks will shorten crossing distances, reduce speeding, and improve safety for pedestrians - $300,000

The safety improvements are proposed for McDonald Avenue at Caton Avenue and for McDonald Avenue at Fort Hamilton Parkway.

2. Electronic “Bus Location” Signs at B67/69 Stops
Install 12 electronic signs at busy stops that tell riders the location and arrival time of their bus - $240,000

Electronic "Real Time Passenger Information" signs are comparable to the "Count-down Clocks" in the subway system. They'll be installed at twelve stops on McDonald Avenue and 7th Avenue in Kensington, Windsor Terrace, and Park Slope.

3. Laptops at PS 130, 230 & 321
Enable tech access across diverse communities: laptop carts for 3rd to 5th grade students at PS 130, 321 & PS 230's ELL (English Language Learner) adult program - $195,000

P.S. 130 is at 70 Ocean Parkway, between Fort Hamilton Parkway and Caton Avenue. P.S. 230 is at 1 Albemarle Road, between McDonald Avenue and Dahill Road.

4. Raising the (Green) Roof @Windsor Terrace Library

The green roof will reduce energy use, limit stormwater run-off, improve air quality, add wildlife habitat & beautify - $250,000

The Windsor Terrace Library is at 160 E. 5th Street, at the corner of Fort Hamilton Parkway.

One project directly impacts Windsor Terrace:

Solar Firehouse

Captures clean solar energy to meet hot water needs of firefighters and make firehouse [Engine Company 240 on Prospect Avenue] more resilient to extreme weather - $140,000

The firehouse has been in service since 1896. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the firehouse as a landmark on February 12, 2013. It's at 1307-1309 Prospect Avenue, near Greenwood Avenue.

KEEP ON TRUCKIN', BUT DO IT SOMEWHERE ELSE

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

RISKY INTERSECTIONS NEED MORE SOLUTIONS

A potentially life-saving first step has been taken at McDonald and Caton and at McDonald and Fort Hamilton Parkway to make crossing those wide, busy streets safer.

Thousands of adults and children are put in harm's way on a daily basis as they venture across the two intersections. Adults who attended P.S. 130, P.S. 230, and Immaculate Heart of Mary School over the years say crossing has been dangerous for decades.

In late August, Assemblymember Jim Brennan called a meeting so that he, the NYPD, the Department of Transportation, and local residents could figure out a course of action. Participants shared information about the ongoing problems and suggested possible solutions.

Mr. Brennan requested on behalf of Troy Martin that NYPD traffic agents be assigned for a few hours in the mornings and afternoons to protect children on their way to and from school. (Residents say that a crossing guard was stationed at McDonald and Caton years ago.) 

The NYPD responded positively and quickly. Only eight days after the meeting, Mr. Brennan announced that agents would direct traffic at the two intersections  from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on days that school is in session.

Now, more steps need to be taken to make pedestrians of all ages and abilities, bicyclists, and motorists safer all day, every day.

Just about everyone at the meeting who lives or works nearby brought up the  problems that trucks cause. McDonald and Caton avenues are heavily-used truck routes, Caton being the local route and Church the through route. Trucks traveling in either direction on McDonald are required to turn onto either Caton or Church and vice-versa. 

One problem is speeding. When speeding truck drivers have to suddenly come to a halt because a light has turned amber or red or because an adult, a child, an animal, or a vehicle suddenly appears in front of them, it takes longer to stop.

And when drivers turn, they sometimes don't have room for their trucks to make a wide enough right-hand turn from westbound Caton onto northbound McDonald. Their trucks are so close to the curb that some of the wheels go up onto the sidewalk, where pedestrians stand.

Often, the long trucks start to make a left-hand turn from southbound McDonald onto eastbound Caton, but they aren't able to complete it before the light turns red. That blocks pedestrian access to the crosswalk. The trucks can't move until the traffic light at E. 2nd turns green and vehicles start moving. Or until a vehicle "blocking the box" moves. Pedestrians must then choose between two dangerous options: walk in traffic on the inner side or the outer side of the crosswalk.

The Mobil station causes additional problems. The station has five driveways: two on Caton, one on McDonald, and two on Fort Hamilton Parkway. When they reopened the station several years ago after a fire, they promised to paint directional arrows on the driveways. They didn't. Cars, SUVs, taxis, ambulances, and police cars zoom in and out. A pedestrian may be walking across a driveway as one car rushes into the station and another one rushes out. And they do rush.

In addition, on occasion, a driver on Fort Hamilton who is waiting for the red light at McDonald to turn green gets impatient and speeds into a driveway, charges through the station, cuts across the center line on McDonald, and turns left to drive south on McDonald. Drivers might not do that if each driveway is marked as either an entrance or an exit.

Among the solutions that could help are leading pedestrian intervals, slow zones, speed humps, lane narrowing, curb extensions, and pedestrian refuges.

The intersection of Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway has a "leading pedestrian interval." It allows pedestrians to start crossing a street before the vehicles going in the same or opposite direction get a green light. The countdown was recently extended from eight seconds to ten after the death of a pedestrian in June. 

"Slow zones" near the three schools would reduce the driving speed from thirty miles per hour to twenty. That speed is more likely to save lives. But slow zones are only for "small, self-contained areas that consist primarily of local streets."

A "speed hump" is a gradual rise in the road that's designed to slow down vehicles to between fifteen and twenty miles per hour. They're three to four inches high and up to twenty feet long. But they can't be used on local or through truck routes.

Narrowing the lanes of traffic decreases speeding and aggressive driving. Curb extensions reduce the distance that has to be crossed. Pedestrian refuges allow people to cross a street in stages; if you see that you aren't going to get all the way across while the light is still green, you can stand on the refuge, making yourself more visible.

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Community Board 7's Transportation Committee will hold a public meeting this Thursday, October 3rd, at 7:30 p.m. Tell your concerns and suggestions to the Department of Transportation. Let's show the DOT that the community is interested enough in this safety issue to attend a meeting.

International Baptist Church
312 Coney Island Avenue, off Park Circle
entrance on Caton Place 

CATON AND FHP CROSSWALKS WILL BE SAFER FOR CHILDREN

The notion that pedestrians should be able to cross the intersection of Caton and McDonald safely was born in the mind of P.S. 230 parent Troy Martin, whose son was struck by an electric delivery bicycle in June as Troy walked him to school ("Child Struck at High-risk Intersection").

Troy contacted our Assemblymember, Jim Brennan, who organized a neighborhood meeting with officials, held on August 28th ("Pedestrians in Danger at Caton and McDonald"). As a result of that meeting, we have good news to report: NYPD school crossing guards will be posted at two dangerous intersections near three schools.

Assemblymember Brennan organized and facilitated the meeting between residents, school principals, the NYPD, and the Department of Transportation.

The NYPD will post a crossing guard at the McDonald Avenue-Caton Avenue intersection and one at the McDonald Avenue-Fort Hamilton Parkway intersection weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Brooklyn Prospect Charter School already has a crossing guard.

"Foot traffic along this corridor is growing tremendously with the addition of a new Junior High/High school in the area [Brooklyn Prospect Charter School]. There are over 3000 students from Kindergarten through High School crossing these roads. I commend NYPD for responding to this dangerous condition and taking measures to increase the safety of the community, particularly school children."

-- Assemblymember Brennan

The meeting participants included Assemblymember Brennan and his legislative aide, MaryKay Seery; NYPD personnel from local precincts 66 and 72, their Community Affairs units, the School Safety Division, and a school crossing guard; Joseph Palmieri, Borough Commissioner of NYCDOT; and the Borough Engineer.

The neighborhood participants were local residents,including parents of schoolchildren; P.S. 230 principal Sharon Fiden; Brooklyn Prospect Charter School president Daniel Rubinstein; a representative from the P.S. 130 PTA; Sister Mary Ann Ambrose, Pastoral Associate, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish; and Joy Rich from KARMABrooklyn.