This Brooklyn Intersection Is The Worst In The State, Study Finds

BROOKLYN, NY — Drivers crossing through an intersection in the heart of Brooklyn will spend more time stuck at traffic lights each day than anywhere else in the state, according to a new report.

Atlantic Avenue and Fourth Avenue — the bustling intersection steps from the Barclays Center and Atlantic Terminal — has been rated the worst intersection in New York for the number of hours per day drivers are delayed waiting for a light to change, according to the study by analytics firm INRIX.

Drivers lose an average of 1,086 hours each day stuck at the Brooklyn crossing, more than any of the 18,560 intersections analyzed in the state, according to the report.

The study found that more than half of the 76,000 or so cars driving through Atlantic and Fourth avenues each day were stopped, waiting an average of 51.2 seconds each time.

The intersection was one of three in Brooklyn that made the top 10 worst in the state.

Further east on Atlantic Avenue, near Pennsylvania Avenue in Cypress Hills, drivers lost 979 hours each day waiting at lights. Tillary Street and Flatbush Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn was not far behind with 938 hours lost each day, according to the report.

The study is the first nationwide analysis of individual traffic lights and intersections. INRIX used anonymous GPS data from cars and smart phones at more than 210,000 intersections across the country between Oct. 4 and 10 in 2020 to calculate the U.S. Signals Scorecard.

Here at the 10 worst intersections in the state, according to INRIX.

1. Atlantic Avenue and Fourth Avenue, Kings County: 1,086 daily hours lost.
2. Long Beach Boulevard and East Park Avenue, Nassau County: 1,046 daily hours lost.
3. Pennsylvania Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, Kings County: 979 daily hours lost.
4. Tillary Street and Flatbush Avenue, Kings County: 938 daily hours lost.
5. North Hempstead Turnpike and Glen Cove Road, Nassau County: 926 daily hours lost.
6. Major Deegan Expressway and E 128th Street, Bronx County: 821 daily hours lost.
7. Thomson Avenue and Van Dam Street, Queens County: 789 daily hours lost.
8. Searingtown Road and Northern Boulevard, Nassau County: 756 daily hours lost.
9. West Sunrise Highway and South Central Avenue, Nassau County: 750 daily hours lost.
10. North Wantagh Avenue and Hempstead Turnpike, Nassau County: 748 daily hours lost.

Find an interactive map to see how well intersections in your area fared here.

Patch reporter Alex Costello contributed.