City To Gerritsen Avenue Drivers: Slow Down!
GERRITSEN BEACH – The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) installed six rubberized temporary pedestrian islands on Gerritsen Avenue last week in its latest attempt to calm the traffic. Residents are concerned about having to veer into oncoming traffic to avoid obstacles like stalled or double-parked cars, and buses stopped to pick up passengers, as well as ability of emergecy vehicles to get through.
Only a mile long, Gerritsen Avenue has been the site of 9 traffic fatalities and serious injuries since 2007, including 17-year-old cyclist Sean Ryan, who was struck and killed by a speeding driver in 2016.
The first email we received was about a city bus that had to use oncoming traffic lane to pass by a truck that had unfortunately stalled right at the island – and it illustrates one of the issue residents are having, neighbor Michael Sutherland told us. On Wednesday night, he saw a car stuck on the island, and multiple signs were either crashed into or knocked over:
What did the city do? Add cones and reflecting lights:
Neighbors are not convinced that these measures will help: cars keep getting stuck on the islands, and others are driving into oncoming traffic to circumvent them.
DOT is not worried. “Our curb-to-curb clearances for Gerritsen Avenue’s travel and protected bike lanes — at least 11’ — are the citywide standard for DSNY street sweepers and snow plows. As is standard, DOT coordinated with FDNY representatives for a review of the design and FDNY deemed the design to be compliant with their standards.”
These islands are the last step in the traffic calming plan along the avenue that DOT started implementing in late 2016, and that did not receive widespread support from the community. It proposed the following measures:
The islands – similar to these below – require slower turning speeds from drivers to make the turn successfully, as well as prevent them from driving in the median.
“Pedestrian refuge islands are a standard and successful Vision Zero safety treatment that DOT now uses throughout New York City. They measurably reduce crashes, serious injuries and fatalities by calming traffic, and better protect pedestrians crossing the street. Pedestrian islands have been key roadway design element in the City’s Vision Zero program, where for the last four and half years we have seen roadway fatalities drop by 26 percent,” DOT told us.
DOT acknowledged that when pedestrian islands are first installed, local drivers face a period of adjustment. “However, we have found that throughout the City, drivers adapt and often come to support the changes, as do pedestrians. We ask for the Gerritsen Beach community’s patience during this period of transition and we will continue to monitor and adjust the roadway design as needed,” DOT said in an email.
Installation of bus boarding islands and protected bike lanes along Gerritsen Avenue started in September 2017, and lead to public outcry earlier this summer. Neighbors complained to News12 that the new siting of the bus shelters on bus boarding islands limited their visibility of the road and made turning onto Gerritsen Avenue a lot more dangerous.
“It’s horrible. You can’t see anything past this bus stop,” Gerritsen Beach resident Dan Walsh told News12 back in August. “You pull up to here, and then you have nose out and look each way, especially when school is in session. It’s very tough.
“I think it’s very dangerous because it impairs drivers vision,” he added.
DOT is looking into the shelter at Gerritsen Ave. and Ave. X in particular, with findings expected this fall. They are are closely monitoring the impact on traffic and safety, DOT spokesperson assured us.
The neighbors only hope there will be no deaths because of all the new changes.