Update: Traffic Light, Daylighting Requested For Accident Prone Emmons Ave Intersection

Community Board 15 sent a request to the Department of Transportation yesterday, seeking a left turn signal and daylighting at the accident-prone intersection of Emmons Avenue and Bedford Avenue.

The corner, as we reported yesterday, is the site of frequent collisions, according to residents. Cars making a left from eastbound Emmons Avenue onto Bedford Avenue are forced to make a blind turn, as parked cars along the median block the view. We’ve reported on several accidents at the intersection.

The request went in after yet another accident this weekend, spurring members of the Sheepshead Bay / Plumb Beach Civic Association to renew their calls for the turn signal and daylighting, a safety measure that sets parking back several feet in order to increase visibility for oncoming traffic.

But Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo said that residents shouldn’t hold their breaths for DOT action.

“How many times have we requested this? This is not the first time we’ve requested this,” Scavo said. “Every now and then we get a call, ‘We need a left turn signal there.’ Fine. But we put in this request several times and it’s always been rejected.”

Scavo added that it can take up to four months for the agency to make their determination. DOT inspectors visit the site and count the number of vehicles making the left turn, as well as look at the intersection’s accident history, and take action dependent on internal criteria.

That leaves residents with little recourse for action, except repeating their request every few months.

“There’s nothing that [neighbors] can do. DOT goes there and does the study. If there is not a certain percentage of cars making that left, they wont do it,” Scavo said. “It doesn’t matter how many people they get letters from, it’s a DOT study and they have criteria and if it’s not there it’s not there.”