More Green Space, Wider Sidewalks, Shorter Pedestrian Crossings Planned
By Linda Collins
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A draft concept for creating “a true Brooklyn gateway” at the Brooklyn Bridge entrance at Adams and Tillary streets was presented in a public forum at Borough Hall last week.
The proposed Department of Transportation (DOT) plan will involve adding more landscaping, creating shorter pedestrian crossings, expanding bike paths, eliminating service roads and creating a wider median.
“The approach from the bridge should be a grand one for vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists. It should let them feel they’ve really arrived somewhere,” said Terra Ishee of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Pedestrian Projects Group, who added, “We haven’t taken away from the vehicle lanes but we have added more protection for pedestrians and bicyclists.”
Added William Vallejo, also of the Pedestrian Projects Group, “We are creating a boulevard to make it more urban, more welcoming, more walkable, more safe.”
The draft proposal, which has grown out of Community Board 2 discussions and several forums where public input was sought, will soon be ready to proceed to the Department of Design and Construction, which has responsibility for the final design and the project’s construction, and the Office of Management and Budget, according to Christopher Hrones of the DOT’s borough commissioner’s office in Brooklyn.
“This is a major capital reconstruction project. There is $14.4 million in the current capital plan with a goal of beginning it in 2012,” said Hrones. “We think it’s pretty ambitious and we may need to find additional funding sources for it.”
There is also a Brooklyn Bridge ramp reconstruction project, a four-year project set to start at the end of this year, according to Hrones.
“We’ll have to work together to ensure there are no undue traffic impacts,” he said.
According to Vallejo, in addition to the changes listed above, there will be longer signals to get more pedestrians through each green light; the sidewalks on both sides of Tillary will be widened to reduce the “excessive roadbed”; and there will be shared pedestrian and bike path space south of Tillary along Adams, too.
“We are changing the geometry of Tillary from Cadman Plaza West to Flatbush Avenue,” he said. A streetscape project along Flatbush is in the works.
Additionally, according to Ishee, the DOT’s concept for the new and wider Brooklyn Bridge walkway includes 12 feet of landscaping, seven feet of space for a pedestrian walkway and seven feet of space for bicyclists.
Issues Raised in Q&A Session
• Traffic coming off the bridge: The DOT plan includes two left-turn lanes to be dedicated for turning east onto Tillary.
• Loss of service roads south of Tillary where buses turn onto Adams and where postal service trucks pull out: The DOT has not yet spoken with the Postal Service.
• Loss of service road along Adams north of Tillary in front of Concord Village: There will be a loss of parking with parking on the east side of Adams only, according to the DOT plan.
• Maintenance of trees and landscaping: The DOT is in talks with the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership to take on this task.
Previous Improvements
As previously reported in the Eagle, in 2005, a protected bicycle lane was implemented along Tillary between Clinton and Adams and the pedestrian signal timing at Tillary and Adams was improved; and, in 2008, a DOT Safety Project eliminated the left-turn lanes onto the bridge at Tillary and Adams.
Additional Public Input Sought
The DOT is still seeking input from the community on its proposal. For additional information about the project or to add your own comments, please visit http://nyc.gov/html/dot/ html/about/brooklynbr_gateway. shtml.
Questions? Comments?
Sound off to the Editor
————————
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2009
All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States copyright law.
Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net
