Here's How We Fix Traffic in Ditmas Park

Thank you to the neighbors who came out to Council Member Mathieu Eugene’s traffic calming forum with the Department of Transportation last night. For those who couldn’t make it, you missed some pretty interesting stuff (and some not so interesting, or just unrelated, stuff), but we’ll try to keep to the good parts. It was a long meeting, so here’s a kinda long rundown:

Traffic Lights on Cortelyou
While Eugene was pushing hard for traffic lights on Cortelyou at either/or both the Stratford and Westminster intersections, it seemed like most people in attendance were hoping to achieve some other traffic calming initiatives, including speed bumps, bike lanes and bike parking, less double parking and more. That’s not to say that drivers, cyclists and pedestrians don’t want improvements at those difficult Cortelyou intersections, and it sounded like most would be in favor of stop lights.

Double Parking by the Firehouse
Da Pride a Flatbush’s Josh Lomask acknowledged that firefighters double parking and parking on the sidewalk in front of the house on Cortelyou is a problem, and has been one for many years. “Every once in a while, you see a car double parked, and then it’s out there on its lonesome, and it looks ridiculous,” he said. “But the guys try to tuck them in as much as possible.

“But it’s not only us,” Josh added, noting that new businesses on the street have increased traffic flow. “But we might be the first guy, and someone else sees us double-parked, and they’ll pull in behind us.”

He explained that the FDNY union contract says that each house should get 6 parking spots – Cortelyou is a double house, so it should have up to 12. Over the years, he said the allotted spaces near our house have diminished. On that block of Cortelyou, there are about 9 total parking spaces available, but only about 4-5 are marked for the firehouse.

“If we could get dedicated parking – 12 spots is beyond our wildest dreams – it would go a long way toward eliminating that problem,” Josh said, adding that the firefighters aren’t thrilled with the situation either, that they don’t want to block traffic. He said they’ve had several cars sideswiped as a result of the double parking. He added that the shift change results in more parking chaos: that’s between 8-9am and 5-6pm.

“We are happy to revisit the issue with the firehouse,” said Community Board 14’s Shawn Campbell, who added that they will work with the merchants and the residents to see who will be willing to give up their parking spots.

Could we make dedicated firefighter parking on Cortelyou between Westminster and Argyle, and in front of the Tot Lot and the library, and add a couple of spaces on Argyle on either side of Cortelyou? It could eliminate all of this double parking. We think so, and we hope everyone agrees.

The DOT said they have a special segment to address the FDNY parking issues, and they’ll follow up on it.

Traffic Lane Blocked on CIA
This sign that’s constantly blocking traffic on Coney Island Avenue reportedly got the business four summonses last week – but it was back there yesterday morning. A big thanks to CB14, which is not responsible for that side of the street, but which has been looking out for it even so. District Manager Campbell said they are working with Sanitation (the Sanitation district covers both sides) on a possible solution, and they are pursuing the business with repeated offenses as a potential scofflaw. (Photo above from this past Sunday by alsivi.)

The CIA/Cortelyou Intersection
Basically, everyone agrees it’s a hot mess. Neighbor and DOT traffic planner Rob Viola has been studying the off-kilter intersection, which he said as many as 300 pedestrians cross at peak hours, and which is in the 99th percentile for dangerous intersections in Brooklyn. Ideas for improvements include pedestrian fences to create a sense of direction for pedestrians and vehicles, a pedestrian island and more. One neighbor suggested the DOT buy some buildings, knock them down, and create a more angular intersection. We wish them luck with that possible proposal.

Potential Improvements
While traffic lights on Cortelyou at Stratford and/or Westminster could help with cross traffic and pedestrian and cyclist safety, it may also help with the CIA/Cortelyou intersection, if adding a left-turn from CIA onto Cortelyou were feasible, and the lights on Cortelyou could help with the timing back-up. If the light/s are not needed, there still could be some possibilites to improve safety on Cortelyou, like daylighting (where parking spots are removed at corners to increase visibility), bike corrals or curb extensions.

Neighbors also rallied for more bike lanes (contact the Flatbush Bicycle Coalition to help with bike safety ideas like this in the neighborhood), play streets and catch basin improvements (more on that in a future post).

One option that seems most promising is to implement truck delivery windows on Cortelyou Road, which have been helpful since they were introduced on Church Avenue. That’s another one that would be up to Cortelyou merchants.

Most Dangerous Intersection?
With all of this focus on Cortelyou and CIA, Firefighter Josh, who probably has the most experience with dangerous intersections, said that his biggest concern in the neighborhood is Albemarle Road.

“That street seems to be the worst for accidents that we respond to,” he said. “Stop signs on Albemarle might go a little way to reducing those accidents.”

One thing that should help with that in some small way is more speed bumps, which are coming to Stratford Road soon, according to CB14. There used to be a speed island on Stratford, which was never replaced after a milling and paving project along the road, so apparently some form of the speed reducer is coming back, with neighborhood association support.

Make Your Voice Heard
If you have any ideas about which of these traffic issues need to be addressed, and how best to prioritize them, please reach out to Heather Hart at Council Member Eugene’s Office: hhart@council.nyc.gov or 212-788-7352.

This is just the beginning, and improvements may still be a long way off. But if you have thoughts, now is the time to voice them.