Park Slope Says "No" to Traffic Hastening Plan
Park Slope Neighbors would like to extend a great big thank you to the 2,000 of you who have taken the time to sign our petition opposing the DOT’s plan to convert 6th and 7th Avenues to one-way traffic flow, and to the 700 or so residents who turned out Thursday night to make sure that the DOT and Community Board Six clearly understood that the plan is not acceptable to Park Slopers. While some 150 or so managed to crowd Methodist Hospital’s auditorium, four times as many people jammed the lobby and stood in the street trying to find out what was going on inside.
While CB6’s Transportation Committee did pass a motion opposing the DOT plan, the motion’s language was, unfortunately, not nearly as forceful as most Slopers would have liked:
Motion 1: CB6 thanks DOT for their efforts to improve pedestrian safety and facilitate the flow of traffic in and around Park Slope as dialogue and discussions are always beneficial; however, we request that DOT not proceed with their proposal to convert 6th and 7th Avenues from two-way to one-way streets at this time because there are too many questions about the impact of this change and how it would effect the neighborhood’s traffic flow and pedestrian safety.
We further request that DOT continue to work with the Community Board and the Park Slope community in resolving Park Slope’s very real traffic and pedestrian safety problems. For example, the perceived/actual high rate of speed of vehicles traveling on 8th Avenue and Prospect Park West, and the congested Union Street approach to the Grand Army Plaza. By working more closely with the Community Board and community we are committing to work with DOT to produce an improved set of remedies and actions designed to further enhance pedestrian safety and facilitate the safe movement of vehicles within our community.
Motion 2: CB6 would table making a recommendation on the 4th Avenue proposal until after such time as we have had a chance to engage DOT in a more comprehensive discussion of the traffic planning needs and challenges facing the Park Slope community.
It’s critical that we all work to keep the pressure on our elected representatives and members of CB6 to ensure that the plan to convert the avenues to one-way operation dies — and stays dead. PSN will present local elected officials and CB6 with the signatures of all those who have signed the petition, but we urge you to weigh in individually by calling or writing your Council Member, Assembly representative and State Senator, as well as the Borough President and the Community Board.
If any of you have not yet signed our petition, we encourage you to do so right now by clicking on this link: http://www.parkslopeneighbors.org/noway_pet.htm . Please encourage your neighbors to sign on, as well.
We also urge you to attend the next General Board Meeting of Community Board Six, which will take place on Wednesday, Aprill 11th, at 6:30 p.m., in the auditorium of John Jay High School, located at 237 7th Avenue, between 4th and 5th Streets. The full board is likely to take up the question of the DOT’s proposal at the meeting.
For a clear-cut look at the difference between how traffic flows on one-way 8th Avenue vs. two-way 7th Avenue, we recommend watching this five-minute film by Clarence Eckerson, Jr.:
http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/03/14/streetfilms-one-way-is-the-wrong-way/
Finally, here’s a sampling of news coverage:
http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/03/16/coverage-of-last-nights-park-slope-meeting/
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/nyregion/thecity/18traffic.html
http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/03/16/dots-park-slope-presentation/
Sincerely,
Eric McClure
Campaign Coordinator
Park Slope Neighbors
[email protected]