Brooklyn 'Shared Street' Opens Blocks From Dangerous Intersection

DOWNTOWN, BROOKLYN — Pedestrians can now walk on a stretch of Downtown Brooklyn streets year-round, not just when there are car-free events held there every summer.

The Department of Transportation officially unveiled a "Safe Street" on two stretches near Willoughby Plaza and the Fulton Street Mall on Thursday, meaning pedestrians, cyclists and cars will now all have domain over the roadway.

The pedestrian-friendly redesign — which goes from Pearl to Lawrence street on Willoughby Street and from Willoughby Street to Fulton Street on Pearl Street — is the first "Shared Street" to be added in Brooklyn.

“The opening of the Willoughby Shared Street is a welcome step in Downtown Brooklyn’s continued transformation into a walkable, bikeable, people-friendly neighborhood,” Eric McClure, executive director of Streets PAC, said at the opening. “Together with the recent redesign of Jay Street, the Willoughby Shared Street is a clear indication that NYCDOT and the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership have fully embraced the importance of car-free and car-light spaces.”

The new design, smilier to the "Shared Street" added on Broadway in Manhattan a few years ago, includes bump-outs that make it so that cars can still drive down the street, but will need to do so slowly to weave in and out of the new pedestrian spaces. Cars are encouraged to drive no more than 5 mph on the roads.

Downtown Brooklyn's shared street was approved by the Community Board earlier this year.

It includes curb extensions on Pearl and Willoughby streets and bollards, planters, street furniture, new signage and bicycle corrals. The pedestrian crosswalks were also shortened.

DOT said the model has been used to improve safety in cities including Seattle, Pittsburgh, Melbourne and Barcelona.

The shared street area is only a few blocks from two of the borough, and the city's, most unsafe roads.

Two intersections just a few blocks from the Shared Street spot were recently found to be two of the most dangerous for cyclists citywide.

The intersection where Jay Street meets Tillary Street, where bikers were injured 20 times in the last five years, tied for second place on a list of the most dangerous intersections for cyclists released by researchers at Localize.city. Not far behind was Jay Street's Myrtle Avenue intersection, which tied for seventh place on the list with 14 injuries between 2014 and 2018, the researchers found.