A Cortelyou Neckdown, Firehouse Parking, No Solution To CIA Intersection, And More From A Traffic Calming Meeting

Last night’s traffic calming meeting, hosted by Councilmember Mathieu Eugene, was a sparsely attended affair. Fewer than 20 people were at the meeting at the Dorchester Senior Center, including the Councilmember, his Legislative and Budget Director Heather Hart, and two representatives from the Department of Transportation. Is that perhaps because of the short notice (Gabriel Carino, owner of Gabe’s Camera City said he’d only gotten notice of the meeting that afternoon), or perhaps because of its early time — or is it something else, something to do with neighbors’ reluctance to believe that this process will help with anything?

Hopefully it’s not that last one, because there is really a lot that you can do by just being there and speaking up on issues of transportation that matter to you. Last night, the DOT stressed the importance of community support and input on items including a neckdown installation on Cortelyou, bike lanes, and more. And as for something like the traffic issues along Coney Island Avenue, unless people are asking for improvements, the people who might be able to do something about it may not know about the issue. So please show up, or call, or send an email or letter to these people, if any of these things are a concern to you.

When Councilmember Mathieu Eugene began the meeting by introducing the DOT’s Keith Bray and Rob Viola, he said, “Now here’s what the DOT is going to do for us.”

Which led to Keith starting off his presentation with a joke: “…or not do for you…”

Since the first meeting in October, the DOT has actually done quite a bit for us, comparatively. Based on neighbors’s requests, we got a traffic light at Cortelyou and Westminster and one at Ditmas and Westminster, and speed bumps were installed on Stratford between Cortelyou and Beverley. But the long list of other considerations from that meeting have some speed bumps of their own.

Install A Neckdown On Cortelyou Road
Based on input from neighbors from the last meeting, the DOT is considering putting in a neckdown on one of the corners of Cortelyou Road at Rugby. This is very preliminary, but it could be like this one on Bergen and Smith in Carroll Gardens, and might include beautification items like planters and seating. It would remove approximately one parking space, but would potentially make it safer for pedestrians crossing Cortelyou.

The DOT stressed that this would need community support, so if you want them to look into it more, or you think there’s a better spot for it, let them or CB14 know.

Benches
At some point, there was a request for three benches on Cortelyou between E 16th and E 17th, and one in front of Greenfield. The DOT said they remembered that, and had thought it had been cleared, but they’ll check with their Bench Group to find out where those are.

More Traffic Lights
Though nobody had asked about this at the last meeting, somehow the idea of a traffic light at Dorchester and E 19th St was a priority of the Councilmember’s office. The DOT said the request was originally denied, but that it’s been 18 months since that denial, they are able to, and will, look at the prospect of putting a light there again.

A higher priority, at least according to the few people at the meeting, was a light at Cortelyou and Stratford. The DOT said a request for a signal there was denied in December 2012, which means it will be a while until that required 18-month period passes before it can be looked at again (unless something that might greatly affect traffic, like potentially a new building or other traffic changes that could impact the intersection, occur before then).

Speed Bumps
They were requested for Marlborough Road between Cortelyou and Beverley around the same time as the ones on Stratford, and should be installed soon.

Bike Lanes
The DOT noted that Hayes Lord, director of the Bicycle Program at the DOT, had presented the options in the area at a recent Community Board 14 meeting, once again stressing that it’s really in the community’s hands at this point if we want, or don’t want, more designated bicycle routes.

Firefighter Parking At The Cortelyou Fire House
At the last meeting, it seemed like there was the possibility to add more dedicated FDNY parking spaces near the fire house, so long as the FDNY requested it, which could hopefully end the double parking that we often see on that stretch. Unfortunately, the DOT says the existing FDNY-only parking signs are just grandfathered in, and that the DOT no longer issues spaces for commuting firefighters.

The DOT’s Rob Viola noted that he had studied the parking on that stretch one morning a month or so ago, right around one of the times that it’s most likely to happen — at a shift change (8-9am, 5-6pm), when there could potentially be about 22 firefighter cars in the area. Rob noted that some firefighters double parked even when spaces on the street were available.

While it’s clear that some firefighters are parking in spots available elsewhere in the vicinity, the first recommendation was that the firefighters just make an effort to find a space instead of double parking, which the two who were at the meeting said they would try to address. Then there are some other parking possibilities that the DOT may be able to finagle to help the issue as well, but they’re just ideas at the moment.

Coney Island Avenue/Cortelyou Road Intersection
As you may know, Coney Island Avenue in our area is the border between the 70th (to the east) and the 66th (west) police precincts. The DOT had heard that the 66th Precinct had been giving out more tickets along Coney Island Avenue for various traffic violations. Unfortunately, no officers from the 66th were at the meeting (the officer from the 70th was happy to point out that their side of CIA was doing okay).

One problem that the DOT can, and is planning to, fix is the spot on the southwest corner of CIA (just about where Visions is), which currently has a “no parking” sign, which will be changed to a “no standing” sign to hopefully help alleviate congestion there, because the “no standing” is a bit more strict. There’s also an odd rush hour parking sign there, which will be removed.

As for making the intersection, which is in the 99th percentile for dangerous intersections in Brooklyn, any safer, the DOT says there are really few, if any, options. As we all know, it’s a wonky intersection, which is why it’s so complicated. As it is now, it’s a three-phase intersection (the lights cycle in three ways to allow traffic and pedestrians through at different times), and time is already apparently being used in the best way possible, and according to federal guidelines.

Rob explained that a left-turn arrow from the southbound lane on CIA to get onto Cortelyou is not something they can do — he said it will just cause slower traffic, and that there are not enough left turns to justify it.

They will look into changing the timing of lights further down CIA, to help delay traffic to help with those left turns, but they seem doubtful that will be a solution.

Still, Rob said he has some other ideas that he’s going to explore — ways to help direct pedestrian traffic more safely through the intersection — so we’re reassured that the DOT is not giving up on this quite yet.

Paving Coney Island Avenue
One thing that came up during the discussion of the intersection is how poor the road condition has gotten there, and along much of CIA. Shawn Campbell, District Manager of CB14, noted that she’s seen what appear to be trolley tracks emerging at the intersection, and potholes are all over the place along the strip.

CB14 has included a line about the reconstruction of CIA in its budget recommendations for the past few years, and the DOT admitted the street needs some help. But they added that resurfacing and reconstruction projects around the city are way behind, especially for night projects, which is what CIA would be, so we may not see a smooth CIA for some time.

Tree Pit Guards on Cortelyou
The mangled metal guards are not the responsibility of the DOT. It’s either up to the merchants, the merchants association, or the Flatbush Development Corporation (which installed them, but doesn’t have the budget to maintain them). The Councilmember would like to help, but can’t work it into his budget for capital projects, since it wouldn’t meat the minimum funding requirement of $35k, and would not have a shelf life of at least 5 years.

The Parks Department, which did the installation of new guards on CIA (the Councilmember’s office said they will look into why some blocks seemed to have been skipped, by the way), are apparently way behind schedule with those, by about two years. So requesting new ones for Cortelyou is not a viable option.

Some people suggested just removing them completely and not replacing them, if they look as bad as they do and could cause injury to people.

Councilmember Mathieu Eugene: MEugene@council.nyc.gov, 718-287-8762

Heather Hart, Eugene’s Legislative & Budget Director: HHart@council.nyc.gov

Keith Bray, DOT Deputy Commissioner: kbray@dot.nyc.gov

Community Board 14: info@cb14brooklyn.com, 718-859-6357

Community Board 12: bkcb12@gmail.com, 718-851-0800

66th Precinct: 66pctnypd@gmail.com, 718-851-5611