Windor Terrace Residents Worried Seeley St. Will Be Even More Dangerous as a One-Way

WINDSOR TERRACE, BROOKLYN — A packed hearing at P.S. 154 on Monday night saw Windsor Terrace residents divided on the wisdom of turning Seeley Street into a one-way road, with some attendees saying the change would make the street even more dangerous.

Staffers from the city's Department of Transportation studied Seeley after community members said its narrowness was causing traffic problems.

The street, stretching from Prospect Park West to McDonald Avenue, fluctuates between 30 and 50 feet in width, according to two DOT officials at Monday's meeting, which was hosted by Community Board 7.

Cars often must pull over to let one another pass, the DOT officials said, while multiple side-swiping incidents were recorded from 2010 through 2014.

To address the issue, DOT proposed turning Seeley into a one-way street running west, though it would remain a two-way road over the Prospect Expressway. Under the proposal, several parking spaces would also be eliminated on either side of the expressway to increase driver visibility.

But while some Seeley Street residents said they supported the plan — one said she is "constantly in fear of a head-on collision" while driving on the street —many others from the neighborhood went after it as inadequate, or worse.

The street's biggest problems are speeding and a lack of places for pedestrians to cross, they said. Locals don't speed, they said, but trucks and cabs do. Multiple residents said the street's tightness is the only thing slowing traffic down, adding that speeding would only increase if it was a one-way route.

Local Neil Eisenberg brought a comparison he had put together looking at Seeley Street and 11th Avenue, both of which are close in length.

While 11th has 11 marked cross walks and five traffic lights or stop signs, Seeley has no cross walks and just one stop sign, Eisenberg found. Furthermore, Eisenberg said there are 1,811 feet between McDonald Avenue and the street's first stop sign.

Many residents voiced their frustration that DOT hadn't added cross walks, stop signs or speed bumps to the street.

Resident Faith Rose said she's been trying to get speed bumps placed there for years, to no effect.

"I fear for the safety of my children," she said, a concern echoed by others. The passion in the room led CB7 chair Dan Murphy to say that DOT's plan had "gone over like a lead balloon."

DOT Brooklyn borough planner Zeph Parmenter, one of the agency officials at the meeting, said the one-way proposal "doesn't rule out anything else," reminding the audience that it was done at the neighborhood's request.

Parmenter said that DOT could continue examining other traffic control options on the street, though the lead time between requests for stop lights and speed bumps and their implementation could be 18 months and two years, respectively. She also asked multiple residents to stay in touch with her directly to continue the conversation.

On a related note, there were no significant objections raised to installing a speed bump on Prospect Avenue between 8th Avenue and Prospect Park West.

Monday's meeting was hosted by CB7's transportation committee, but the group didn't vote on the proposals, according to CB7 district manager Jeremy Laufner.

Both proposals will be considered at Wednesday's meeting of the full board.

Pictured at top: the intersection of Seeley Street and McDonald Avenue. Image via Google Maps.