CB 2 Supports DOT Plan For Pedestrian Safety At Clinton Hill Intersection

The city Department of Transportation (DOT) has a plan to improve pedestrian safety at the Atlantic Avenue-Washington Avenue-Underhill Avenue intersection and many local residents say the changes “cannot come fast enough.”

“[Changes would mean] I cannot go from Washington to Underhill? Okay,” said Fort Greene resident Hilda Cohen, who is also founder of advocacy group Make Brooklyn Safer. “There’s precedent over at Lafayette [Avenue] and Fulton [Street]. . . But until they put concrete there, signs don’t do anything.” ‘

Cohen’s neighbor Tom Dollar also welcomes possible improvement, noting that “if you go walking down Washington, you just don’t know where cars are coming from, left, right, south…”

Cohen and Dollar were responding to a DOT plan — which is set to be implemented this year — to change or prevent some traffic turns and increase crossing time length in order to improve pedestrian safety.

According to the DOT:

The proposal adds new concrete elements to shorten pedestrian crossings, provides additional pedestrian crossing time and provides a northbound left turn arrow allowing pedestrians to begin their crossing in advance of left turning vehicles.

Additionally, the proposal restricts the southbound left turn from Washington Ave to Atlantic Ave, adds new crosswalks along Washington Ave and restricts westbound Atlantic Ave and southbound Washington Ave turns onto Underhill Ave.

The plan reduces pedestrian conflicts throughout the intersection and provides both shorter pedestrian crossings and greater pedestrian crossing time in the intersection.

Referred to as the Atlantic/Washington Pedestrian Project, the plan would increase pedestrian crossing times as follows:

• Morning crosswalk times would go from 43 seconds to 51 seconds
• Mid-day and night times would go from 37 seconds to 44 seconds
• Evening and weekend times would go from 39 seconds to 44 seconds

Community Board 2, which is made up of resident representatives in community government from Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Wallabout, Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO and parts of Boerum Hill, has given support for the plan.

Brooklyn Community Board 8, which represents Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, and Weeksville, is also on board with the planned changes, which would affect traffic on both the Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights sides.

The Atlantic/Washington Pedestrian Project comes in the wake of implementation of the 2012 Washington Avenue Corridor Project, which restricted eastbound left turns on Atlantic Avenue, installed a southbound left turn bay on Washington Avenue, added concrete islands and median extensions, and expanded the Lowry Triangle using painted gravel and granite blocks.

According to the DOT, the 2012 project was a success, reducing the total number of crashes by 31 percent and the number of pedestrian injuries by 44 percent.