Traffic Signal Coming To Dangerous Corner At Westminster & Beverley Roads

In January, we asked if a traffic signal would ease the number of crashes at the notoriously dangerous intersection of Westminster and Beverley Roads. Now, it looks like the DOT plans to install a signal at the intersection within the next two months.

Thanks to a reader, we noticed a DOT permit issued to install traffic signals on Westminster Road (listed as East 12th Street) between Albermarle and Beverley Roads on both sides of the street. The permit is valid from October 20 to December 21. This permit is for construction on the street, but the DOT confirmed that the traffic signal will be installed at the corner.

The intersection of Westminster and Beverley Roads is the only one along Beverley Road between Coney Island Avenue and Ocean Avenue that does not already have a signal, according to DPC reporter Shannon Geis.

According to the NYPD’s crash statistic numbers for 2016, there were twenty-one incidents at Beverley and Westminster in 9-months between January and September 2016. This is a huge jump compared to nine incidents between the 11-month period between January and November last year. There were four incidents alone in September, with the most common contributing factor listed as “driver inattention/distraction.”

This year, there’s been an “alarmingly high rate of vehicle collisions” in the 70 Precinct, skyrocketing up almost 300 collisions for the year, said Deputy Inspect James Palumbo in September.

The DOT has installed other traffic signals over the past couple of years, responding to intersections with a high number of car crashes. Last February, the DOT installed a traffic light at the corner of Newkirk Avenue & Westminster Road following a series of crashes. In January of this year, the DOT installed a new traffic signal at Caton Avenue and East 8th Street.

Are there other intersections in the neighborhood that you think need a light?

[Update 11/8: A DOT spokesperson confirmed that the Brooklyn Borough Commissioner’s office requested the traffic signal request, followed by a DOT feasibility study. The DOT has scheduled the traffic light to be completed by the end of November.]