Lingering Doubts As Flatbush & Myrtle Avenue Jug Handle Turn Plan Moves Forward

It doesn’t take long standing at the crossing of Flatbush and Myrtle Avenues to see how congested and potentially dangerous traffic there can get, especially when it comes to southbound vehicles on Flatbush lining up–or worse, speeding around each other–to turn left.

The Department of Transportation has been working on a plan that would employ the existing Myrtle Avenue service road just east of MetroTech Center as a jug handle, diverting the majority of divers to the right for a sort of legally-sanctioned U-turn around a traffic island. Drivers would then be able to proceed straight through the intersection to travel east up Myrtle Avenue. According to DNAInfo, that plan was unanimously approved at a June 16 meeting of Community Board 2‘s Transportation Committee–but not everyone seemed so enthusiastic about it at CB2’s June 30 Executive Committee Meeting.

One part of the DOT’s plan that came as a surprise to some board members and others in attendance was the exception for buses, which will continue to be able to turn left directly from Flatbush Avenue as vehicles are doing now. A DOT representative explained that each bus will “trigger a left turn light” for 11 seconds, or just long enough for it–and only it–to complete the turn. This concerned at least one board member, who suggested other vehicles might try tucking in behind buses, attempting to complete the turn as oncoming traffic advances.

Another worry was for adequate signage to ensure that trucks over 44 feet in length, which will not be able to make it around the jug handle, don’t get stuck. The DOT assured the board that there would be plenty of signage to warn truck drivers coming off the Manhattan Bridge before even approaching Tillary Street two blocks north, so as to avoid further snarled traffic or dangerous situations.

Michael Rapfogel, representing both Forest City Ratner and the MetroTech BID, insisted that the proposed plan to increase vehicular traffic on the largely sleepy Myrtle service road would negatively impact the MetroTech area community’s enjoyment, as well as the businesses, on the now-bustling plaza.

Downtown Brooklyn Partnership president Tucker Reed also stepped in multiple times during the meeting to explain that while it was clear the intersection is not working in its current state, the DBP simply does not support the DOT’s proposed solution. He argued that diverting traffic into an area used heavily by pedestrians and delivery trucks was not the answer for a junction that had already seen its share of “horrific accidents” (including a reported 100 injuries from 2007 to 2011), and that if the DOT’s plan must move forward in the immediate future, the DBP encourages them to keep a close eye on the intersection and consider other solutions sooner than later.

Eventually, CB2 once again voted that the current jug handle proposal should move forward. A DOT rep said as changes to the traffic pattern at Flatbush and Myrtle will utilize signage and paint on an existing road, the plan is fully reversible if the plan proves more problematic than helpful.

What’s your take on the plan–especially if you weren’t clear on the separate turn for singular buses, or the signage for long tractor trailer drivers, before?

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