Fixing ‘One Of The Biggest And Busiest Intersections In All Of Brooklyn’

Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced plans for major improvements to city roads in an effort to increase safety for pedestrians and bicyclists in all five boroughs.

Under the next phase of his Vision Zero Plan, the Mayor’s $1.6 billion investment to reduce traffic fatalities/accidents and improve infrastructure, improvements will include new crosswalks, wider sidewalks, and more protected bike lanes.

The Mayor described the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge at Tillary Street in Downtown Brooklyn as “one of the biggest and busiest intersections in all of Brooklyn.”

Proposed construction for this “heavily trafficked” and “historically too dangerous” area will lead to a series of major improvements including “widened sidewalks, additional bike paths,” and “a new expanded median to accommodate bikers and walkers.”

This will be the first of dozens of projects the Department of Transportation will tackle under the plan, with construction slated for “all over the City from Mott Haven to Marine Park, every borough,” the Mayor said.

New York City saw the fewest number of traffic fatalities in recorded history in 2016, according to de Blasio. He adds that the City has seen a 20 percent drop in traffic fatalities from this time last year.

The Mayor added that he will fight against President Trump’s proposed budget cuts that threaten to reduce funding for Vision Zero.

“President Trump, who ran on a platform of fixing infrastructure, is literally going to take money away from infrastructure work and away from public safety and we’re going to fight those cuts,” he said.