Slow Zone Proposal Prompts Fevered Response from Residents [POLL]

To slow down or not to slow down?

That’s the question that many Windsor Terrace residents are weighing in the wake of an application from Councilman Brad Lander that the neighborhood be considered for the Department of Transportation’s “Neighborhood Slow Zones.”

The Slow Zones—to be implemented in across the five boroughs—are intended to reduce the speed limit from 30 to 20 mph in certain areas, typically residential, said Rob Viola, a project manager with the DOT. A combination of speed bumps, signs and street markings will be used to communicate to drivers that they have entered a Slow Zone.

“It’s really in places that are already supposed to be areas where you’re driving slow, where you’re looking out for people crossing the street, people coming out of their driveways—things like that,” Viola said.  

For Windsor Terrace, the application proposes the borders for the Slow Zone be Prospect Park West, Prospect Park Southwest, Ft. Hamilton Parkway and McDonald Ave. A representative from Lander's office clarified that the application was submitted only so the neighborhood would be on the table for consideration, and that no decisions would be made without community input.

But Windsor Terrace residents are already divided on whether they want a Slow Zone implemented in the community.

"I guess I feel that if you knocked it down to 20 you’d still have those people that speed through the neighborhood, said David Pinkard, a Windsor Terrace resident. "Every once in a while you see someone blasting through here, and I think that person would speed if it were 20 mph or 30 mph.”

Jen Lefever, also of Windsor Terrace, said she wasn't aware of any major safety issues that would demand a Slow Zone. 

“If it’s not broke, why even make the effort to fix it? I don’t see the necessity of it, I gotta say," she said.

Possibly the most divisive aspect of the Slow Zone, though, is the idea of “daylighting,” or removing parking spaces at zone entrances so that drivers and pedestrians can better see oncoming traffic. The neighborhood would stand to lose as many as 20 parking spaces, which does not come as welcome news to many Windsor Terrace residents.  

Robert Hammond said he wouldn't mind seeing traffic slow down in general, but is adamantly against the Slow Zone if it means sacrificing parking, which, like many Brooklyn neighborhoods, is at a premium in Windsor Terrace. 

"It seems like DOT wants to limit car traffic severely in the city and force everybody to ride bicycles," he said. "If you take parking away, I think it's a terrible idea. It limits the freedom that I have to jump in the car and go somewhere."

Fortunately for Hammond and the other like-minded residents, community support is a big factor in whether a neighborhood will be chosen for a Slow Zone, Viola said. The DOT received roughly 100 applications from across the city, and only between one and three will actually be created. Neighborhoods will be selected by the end of March, and implementation will begin in July.

“There’s lots of demand all over the city for this concept, he said. “The DOT has no interest in fighting a battle over it. If there’s a lot community resistance, we’ll go to another taker.”