Deadly 9th Street Intersection Gets New Signal As Redesign Looms

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — A troubled Brooklyn intersection where a cyclist recently died finally got a safety fix, but it's not the protected bike lanes that many locals want — for now.

A new signal called a "leading pedestrian interval" will give foot and bicycle traffic a head start when signals change at Ninth Street's intersection with Second Avenue, said Council Member Shanana Hanif in a constituent newsletter.

Hanif said Department of Transportation officials informed her office about the change after a recent walkthrough at the intersection.

"While this is a great start, there is still a lot of work to be done to make this area safer," she wrote.

Local from Park Slope and Gowanus have long raised concerns about the intersection, where car traffic is forced to merge into a paint-only bike lane.

Ninth Street itself has seen six traffic deaths in 18 years, Streetsblog NYC first reported.

Those included a fatal 2018 crash near Fifth Avenue in Park Slope claimed the lives of Joshua Lew, 1, and Abigail Blumenstein, 4, that prompted new safety upgrades such as protected bike lanes.

But those bike lanes stopped at Third Avenue, despite calls from locals — notably Community Board 6 members — that safety improvements continue west of that intersection.

The issue reignited Jan. 10 after Sarah Schick, a 37-year-old mother of two, rode a Citi Bike along through the intersection when the driver of a truck killed her.

Schick's death prompted a rally Jan. 20 attended by Hanif, Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez and other local leaders. Protesters staged a "die-in" to call attention to the dangerous intersection and Rodriguez said the city will unveil a redesign of Ninth Street west of Third Avenue, Streetsblog first reported.

Hanif said transportation officials, beyond the quick fix of adding a leading pedestrian signal, will redesign the intersection, add proper signage for trucks, address unmarked parking spots along Ninth Street and look into signal patterns where the streets meet.