Emergency BQE Repairs: Expect Jams on Columbia

Thanks to Belinda Cape at Dan Squadron's office forwarding this information:

Due to emergency repair work on the cantilever section of the BQE, one of the eastbound (northerly direction) lanes is shut down. Repairs are scheduled to start tomorrow and may take a few days.

While work is in progress, the ramp from Atlantic Avenue will be closed. Furman Street will be opened to 2-way traffic and traffic agents will be on hand to help direct traffic over the temporary route.

Expect heavy congestion due to this and increased traffic on Hicks and Columbia Streets. Exercise additional caution when biking or walking in the area.

HURRICANE IRENE

We have received emails from our local representatives regarding preparedness for the approaching storm. You can view information on their websites.

Thanks to Daniel Squadron's office for sending out links to the Office of Emergency Management severe weather site and a link to NYC's Hurricane Guide.  You can also find information on his website.

Brad Lander's office has set up a very informative web page here.  It contains an evacuation zone map as well as detailed information about evacuation centers and planning for the storm.
 
We've found the city's OEM website 'evacuation zone finder' to be extremely slow in response.  Lander's map is better and a good evacuation zone map is posted by WNYC.

Another essential site for authoritative information is the NOAA.  Their Hurricane Irene website is heaven for data geeks.  See probability maps for winds and storm surge there, but please follow directives issued by the local authorities.

Help Improve B61 Service

Councilman Brad Lander writes...

Our office is looking for volunteers to help improve the service of the B61 bus. By collecting data on B61 performance, our office is seeking to determine what can be done to help improve the speed of the B61. We are collecting ridership data to assess:

• The number of riders who use the B61
• Which bus stops have the highest and lowest ridership
• Which buses are the most chronically delayed
• How the closure of the Smith-9th Street subway station is impacting B61 riders' commutes
• Where "bunching" of buses most frequently occurs along the route.

Our office will provide volunteers with the necessary field sheets to record their data. Volunteers will collect data on Monday-Thursday from July 11-28. Morning shifts are 7-9am and evening shifts are 4:30-6:30pm.

If you want to help -- and every bus rider in our neighborhood should! -- then get in touch with Matt Green at the councilman's office. He's reachable at 212-788-6969 and mgreen@council.nyc.gov.

Brooklyn Bridge Park Access Improvements

On Thursday, July 7, representatives from NYC Department of Transportation presented proposed alterations to the intersection of Atlantic Avenue, Columbia Street and Furman Street in order to increase safety for the large number of pedestrians and bicyclists that cross this intersection due to the opening of Brooklyn Bridge Park.

More than a year ago COWNA requested improvements to this intersection as part of our comprehensive survey of Columbia Street safety needs. Other neighborhood groups and elected officials have also pushed for improvements. Thanks are due to DOT for working hard to bring this proposal before our community, presumably as quickly as they were able to.

Image from DOT

The proposed changes will improve the experience of getting to the park. However, it falls far short of a comprehensive solution to the problem of providing convenient and safe access to one of New York's newest and most compelling public spaces.

The central failing of the proposal is its acceptance of the existing traffic conditions around the BQE entrance at Atlantic and the existing truck access to Pier 7. We all know that a significant contributor to the congestion around the intersection of Atlantic, Hicks, Furman and Columbia is drivers taking shortcuts on Hicks, Furman and Columbia to avoid the BQE. Any plan to improve pedestrian safety should have included a thorough analysis of these traffic patterns and measures to reduce the bypassing traffic. At the most dangerous intersection, the ramp from Atlantic to the eastbound BQE, the proposal suggests mainly new signage. This is hardly likely to result in a significant improvement.

At the truck entrance to Pier 7, the proposal includes only providing better sight lines. What really should be acknowledged is that the pier entrance is just in the wrong place. It should be moved to the intersection of Columbia and Congress, where there are already gates, and signalized. This would also allow the creation of a safe pedestrian crossing at Columbia Street and Congress, which is convenient for people approaching from Cobble Hill. The current proposal recommends introducing a new crosswalk at the BQE westbound entrance which puts pedestrians in conflict with vehicles exiting the BQE onto Columbia.

The proposal includes two welcome changes: widening of the sidewalk curving into the park at the south side of Atlantic by shifting the bike lanes into the street and changing the B63 bus route to eliminate the U-turn. Unfortunately, the bike lanes will be protected with jersey barriers, a distinctly second-rate configuration which will probably remain in place for years, slowly deteriorating.

This is essentially a 'painted-on-the-street' proposal and should be considered no more than a temporary placeholder approach until a worthy design that appropriately prioritizes and serves the park-going public is created.

Neighborhood Meeting

Please join the Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association for our summer

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING

Thursday, July 21, 2011

6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

On the agenda:

Helicopter Noise

Columbia Street Safety

Campaign for Healthy Ports

Fix the Ditch

Nominations for Board Positions

Jalopy Theater and School of Music

315 Columbia Street

Between Woodhull & Hamilton

Brooklyn Greenway Summer Benefit Party

Support the Greenway at New Views 2011: Festa D'Estate!

Thursday, June 16th   6:00PM-9:00PM   One Brooklyn Bridge Park

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative's summer benefit party, New Views 2011: Festa D’Estate, will be held Thursday, June 16th, 6:00PM-9:00PM at One Brooklyn Bridge Park overlooking Pier 6, with spectacular views of the harbor and lower Manhattan. Special guests of honor include Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez and NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

According to BGI Co-Founder Milton Puryear, “Our guests of honor this year are responsible for the two most significant project milestones in the development of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway: Congresswoman Velázquez’ securing of $14.4 million in federal funding for the project and Commissioner Sadik-Khan’s commitment to sponsor and build the Greenway. And now it is happening!”

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative is the 501(c)3 non-profit coordinating the planning, implementation and long term stewardship of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a 14-mile waterfront bicycle and pedestrian route stretching from Greenpoint to Bay Ridge.

This year's benefit party will be a family-friendly Italian summer feast (Festa D'Estate), featuring a variety of food from some of Brooklyn's distinctive Italian restaurants, including Casa di Campagna; Caselnova, the neighborhood trattoria; Enoteca on Court; Fornino Park Slope; Lioni Fresh Mozzarella & Italian Heroes; Marco Polo Ristorante, and more.

Guests will also enjoy Italian wine compliments of Scotto's Wine Cellar , Peroni beer compliments of Phoenix Beverages , and San Pellegrino waters and soda compliments of Manhattan Beer Distributors …and great raffle prizes too, featuring a selection of fine Italian wines compliments of Tony DiDio Selections, as well as gift certificates from Grimaldi's Pizzeria, Enoteca on Court and Marco Polo Ristorante.

Attire is casual yet festive and, for the youngsters, Pier 6 playground is just steps from the party. Tickets start at 2 for $150 and can be purchased online at www.brooklyngreenway.org . All tickets will be held at the door. If you would like more information about this event, please contact Brian McCormick at 718.522.0193 or bmccormick@brooklyngreenway.org.

Safety on Columbia Street

We received the following letter from the DOT in response to our letter regarding safety on Columbia Street:

Following is the text of our letter to DOT:

12 May 2011

Mr. Joseph Palmieri, Brooklyn Borough Commissioner
New York City Department of Transportation
16 Court Street
Brooklyn, NY 11241

Dear Commissioner Palmieri:

The pedestrian that was struck and killed at the corner of Summit and Columbia Streets on March 31st this year is yet another sad reminder of the hazards of our main street. As all local residents know, Columbia Street is dangerous. There are a number of factors that make this so:

1. The section of Columbia Street between Degraw Street and Hamilton Avenue is particularly narrow, with parking on both sides. Vehicles cannot pass each other, but often try to do so. This contributes to congestion and accidents.

2. A lack of loading areas in the commercial strip results in double parking, causing further congestion.

3. Because we are near the port and the manufacturing areas of Red Hook, truckers often use Columbia Street as a shortcut to avoid using the less convenient legal truck route on the BQE.

4. Drivers seeking a route around the congestion in the BQE ‘trench’ exit at Atlantic Avenue, travel down Columbia Street and return at Hamilton Avenue.

5. The reconstruction work on Van Brunt Street has been going on for years with no clear end in sight. The designated local truck route of DeGraw Street and Van Brunt Street, was formerly two-way, but is now one-way southbound. Northbound traffic must divert onto Columbia Street via a complicated series of turns.

6. Poor sightlines exist at most intersections due to parked cars. This is especially true at the stop signs at President Street and Summit Street.

7. There is substantial pedestrian traffic crossing Columbia Street to reach the playground and Urban Meadow on President Street.

We expect significant increases of pedestrian and bicyclist activity in the coming months as the weather improves and more people visit Brooklyn Bridge Park. This activity will only increase as the Park is built out. Our neighborhood has several new apartment buildings and more developments are underway, increasing the number of residents who will be walking to the stores along Columbia Street and Union Street and visiting our local parks and gardens. It is now more important than ever that the safety of our residents and visitors be assured.

We met with DOT representatives and representatives from many of our elected officials and Community Board 6 in March of 2010 and issued a list of requests and recommendations. We are heartened by the progress being made on many of the requests. However, our number one priority remains taking every measure to make Columbia Street safer and, in particular taking measures that address the increasingly dangerous stretch of Columbia Street between DeGraw Street and Hamilton Avenue.

We therefore make the following recommendations to DOT:

· “Daylighting” intersections on Columbia Street between DeGraw Street and Hamilton Avenue.

· Signalizing intersections on Columbia Street south of Union Street.

· Installing “gateway” signage at DeGraw Street and Columbia Street sending a clear message to vehicles to “Slow Down - Thickly Settled Area” or similar language.

· Posting the maximum speed limit signage on Columbia Street between Atlantic Avenue and Hamilton Avenue.

· Studying the feasibility of adding more loading zones to lessen the impact of double parked delivery trucks.

· Installing pedestrian bulb-outs at the Degraw Street and Columbia Street intersection to alert all vehicles of the narrower street geometry on Columbia Street south of DeGraw Street. This will have the added advantage of signaling to trucks that the truck route does not continue on Columbia Street south of DeGraw Street once the designated truck route is back in service.

We look forward to working with you on these recommendations in a renewed effort to effectively address the dangerous conditions on Columbia Street.