By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

ATLANTIC AVENUE – Many people were not surprised when Atlantic Avenue became the only Brooklyn street among the Top 10 in the New York metro region’s “Most Dangerous Roads for Pedestrians.�

The survey was released Wednesday by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. Atlantic Avenue was tied for ninth place with Route 1 in Middlesex County, N.J. and Route 9 in Essex County, N.J.

Atlantic Avenue had nine pedestrian fatalities between 2005 and 2007, according to the transportation advocacy group. Also on the survey, but not in the Top 10, were three other Brooklyn thoroughfares: Fourth Avenue, which connects Downtown with Sunset Park and Bay Ridge; Flatbush Avenue, which traverses the entire borough; and Neptune Avenue, within the Coney Island peninsula.

Leslie Lewis is president of the 84th Precinct Community Council, which includes most of the Downtown portion of Atlantic Avenue. He said, “Of the three of these accidents which were on our part of Atlantic Avenue, they were all caused not by speeding, but by driver inattention. One was caused when a driver veered onto the sidewalk and killed a guy on a bench, and another happened after someone was wandering around in the middle of the street at 3:30 in the morning.

“When we do speed checks around here, people are going 29, 30 miles per hour. Most of the accidents here have definitely been caused by driver inattention – people putting on makeup, talking on cell phones, looking at newspapers, texting and so on,� he said.

On the other hand, Wiley Norvell, spokesman for Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group for walkers, bicyclists and public-transit riders, said, “There are no surprises there. All of these streets [mentioned on the survey] are prone to speeding, with cars occasionally going 40 or 50 mph through areas with a large population of pedestrians.

“What we need is better signal timing, extending sidewalks out at corners to make drivers slow down, traffic islands for seniors, speed enforcement cameras. These are streets that are built for cars and nothing else,� he said, calling speeds of 30 or 40 mph “deadly for pedestrians.�

Craig Hammerman, district manager of Community Board 6, which is bordered by Atlantic Avenue, said, “Both Flatbush and Atlantic avenues cross the entire borough of Brooklyn. They are wide streets with constant tension between competing uses as local streets and through streets.�

The worst street for pedestrians in the tri-state area was deemed to be Hempstead Turnpike in Nassau County, with 15 pedestrian fatalities. The worst in the city itself was Third Avenue in Manhattan, with 10.

The group applauded efforts that are already under way to improve safety in many of these corridors. The New York City Department of Transportation, for example, has implemented several programs aimed at reducing pedestrian injuries and fatalities at targeted locations, including a Safe Routes for Seniors programs.

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