Here's How City Officials Plan to Fix the Deadly Intersection Outside Barclays

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — The stretch of Flatbush Avenue between Atlantic Avenue and Lafayette Avenue is congested, unsafe and in need of a redesign, staffers from the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) said at a public meeting in Fort Greene on Wednesday.

The DOT's area of study (click to enlarge). All images courtesy of the DOT

The area is defined by excessively long pedestrian crossings, poor bike access, heavy traffic, and turning lanes that promote vehicle conflict, the DOT said, all made worse by the shopping, residential and entertainment activity that propel cars, trucks and people through the streets both day and night.

The result? Consider the following numbers. According to the DOT, from 2010 to 2014:

• 9 pedestrians and 4 bikers were killed or seriously injured in the area
• 12 motor vehicle occupants were killed or seriously injured in the area
• In total, 367 pedestrians, cyclists and people riding in cars were injured or killed in the area
• The area is more dangerous than 90 percent of Brooklyn's streets

Crash data (click to enlarge)

What's to be done? At the meeting, the DOT proposed a series of changes (all included in the presentation embedded at the end of this post), and collected public feedback and suggestions. The DOT's ideas include:

1) Building a small slip lane (or pedestrian walking area) between Schermerhorn Street and Flatbush Avenue.

The proposed slip lane (click to enlarge)

2) Widening the sidewalk on Lafayette Avenue; building a median island on Flatbush from Lafayette to 4th Avenue; and improving bike lanes connecting Schermerhorn and Lafayette.

Click to enlarge

3) Building a raised crosswalk in front of 1 Hanson Pl.

Click to enlarge

4) Adding pedestrian safety islands on Flatbush and Atlantic and extending the sidewalk along 4th Ave.

Click to enlarge

5) And eliminating the double-right turn off Atlantic Avenue onto Flatbush Avenue, replacing it with a single turn lane.

Click to enlarge

Sean Quinn, the DOT's Senior Director of the Office of Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs, said that some fixes could be completed in 2017, while others would require more infrastructure work and would take longer. Either way, Quinn said, DOT staffers will come back to the public, and to area community boards, for approval before any decisions are finalized.

DOT Atlantic Avenue-Flatbush Avenue Workshop - 8.3.16 by JVS Patch on Scribd

Pictured at top: The intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue. Photo by John V. Santore