Street Safety Activists Want Action ASAP at Times Plaza Near Boerum Hill

BOERUM HILL, BROOKLYN — Bike and pedestrian safety group Transportation Alternatives will rally in Times Plaza this weekend, offering both support for proposed changes to the dangerous intersection, and calling for safety measures to be implemented as soon as possible.

In August, the city's Department of Transportation (DOT) held a public hearing outlining its proposed changes to the area around the Plaza, which sits where Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue converge.

According to the city, from 2010 to 2014, 367 pedestrians, cyclists or car passengers were killed or injured within a few blocks of the intersection, making the area more dangerous than 90 percent of Brooklyn's streets.

DOT proposed a variety of area changes, including:

• Building a pedestrian walking area between Schermerhorn Street and Flatbush Avenue
• Widening the sidewalk on Lafayette Avenue
• Building a median island on Flatbush from Lafayette to 4th Avenue
• Improving bike lanes connecting Schermerhorn and Lafayette
• Building a raised crosswalk in front of 1 Hanson Pl.
• Adding pedestrian safety islands on Flatbush and Atlantic and extending the sidewalk along 4th Avenue
• And eliminating the double-right turn off Atlantic Avenue onto Flatbush Avenue, replacing it with a single turn lane.

TransAlt organizer Bahij Chancey said the group likes the ideas, but wants the DOT to go even further, including the installation of a two-way bike lane across Flatbush and down Fourth Avenue, as shown in the below diagram:

The DOT has yet to finalize its plan for the Plaza and surrounding streets. It first has to present a final design to Community Board 2, and then go through its normal procurement and construction process, which could take a year or more.

But TransAlt doesn't want the city to wait that long to take action. Once the DOT's plans have been approved by the community, Chancey explained, the group wants the agency to take temporary measures to start protecting pedestrians and bikers.

Specifically, it's calling on DOT to paint the areas it will eventually cover in new concrete (shown in beige above), clearly delineating them from the roadway. TransAlt also wants DOT to install flexible barriers around those painted areas, to discourage cars from driving onto them.

TransAlt will hold its rally on Dec. 17 at 11 a.m. at Times Plaza.

Pictured at top: The intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush Avenue. Image via Google Maps.