Brooklyn Heights To Become A ‘Slow Zone’ In 2016

By on October 11, 2013 1:24 pm in Traffic

The NYC DOT announced this week that 15 neighborhoods across the city, including Brooklyn Heights, will become “slow zones” over the next two years. Speed limits in these areas will be lowered from the current 30 mph to 20 mph. Brooklyn Heights will join the group in 2016.

NYC.gov: Slow zones are marked by high-visibility blue gateway signs at all streets entering the area, with signs noting the 20 mph speed limit in the zone, as well as speed bumps and stenciling of “20 MPH” eight-foot-high letters to make clear that motorists are in a reduced speed area. The program was first announced in 2010 as part of the DOT’s landmark Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan, and criteria considered in evaluating the Slow Zone applications included crash rates, community support, number of local schools, senior centers, daycare centers, subway stations and distinct boundaries. Areas that included fire stations, hospitals, and truck routes were avoided and the amount of bus routes were kept to a minimum inside the proposed zone. Following installation in 2011, the Claremont Slow Zone saw a 10 percent reduction in the worst speeding in the neighborhood, and across the city, speed bumps have been shown to reduce pedestrian crashes by more than 40 percent and reduce speeds by nearly 20 percent. In addition to Claremont, the other existing Slow Zone neighborhoods are Mt. Eden, Baychester, Eastchester and Riverdale in the Bronx; Boerum Hill in Brooklyn; Inwood in Northern Manhattan; Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights/East Elmhurst and Auburndale in Queens; and New Brighton/St. George, Dongan Hills and Rosebank on Staten Island. In 2016, DOT plans to re-open the application process again and invites neighborhoods across the city to apply.

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  • Lady in the Heights

    Considering what happened in Park Slope this week (http://forward.com/articles/185337/brooklyn-bar-mitzvah-boy-samuel-cohen-eckstein-kil/) with the death of a 12 year old who was hit by a van, this is excellent news. Thank you Steve Levin for making this a priority in our neighborhood.

  • Herman

    Will this apply to food delivery people on bicycles? Hope so.

  • Remsen Street Dweller

    And, thanks go, too — to the Brooklyn Heights Association.

  • Rock E. Fella

    I’ll be popping wheelies on my Vespa, love those speed humps!

  • AEB

    Thank you, Jesus. And any other party responsible. Facing oncoming traffic on Henry, one often sees one’s life flash before one’s eyes.

  • Jorale-man

    This is fantastic news. Drivers treat our neighborhood like it’s their own NASCAR track. I suspect it’s because they’re in a rush to get to the bridges or BQE but it’s completely out of control. I hope they install the speed bumps on the main streets (Hicks, Henry, Clinton) as well as the East-West streets.

  • blake livey

    Yow-za!

  • frogger

    crossing Henry at Cranberry to get the A train subway is treacherous. In the morning, trucks double park on Henry to make deliveries and you need to peer around them to see if traffic is coming up Henry .. Many times only to find a car speeding at 40 or 50 mph. Someone is going to get killed here. We need a light and crosswalk and some speed enforcement. Also the trucks should park in the middle of the block NOT on the corners. It should be 15 mph on Henry. Tops

  • http://n8han.technically.us/ Nathan

    We have traffic signals at almost every other intersection in the city, and still plenty of speeding (when the light is green, or yellow, or often enough red) and death. I don’t think that signalizing the handful of remaining intersections will help. But speedbumps and other calming measures work 24/7 to slow traffic. It’s kind of sick that people won’t slow down to save children but will to save their suspension, but hey, whatever works.

  • AEB

    I agree wholeheartedly, frogger. Add to it the casual driving of the limo guys who are often dispatched from nearby.

    Crossing Henry last week while checking oncoming traffic, one of those cars backed into me. I wasn’t hurt, but could have been.

  • mlcraryville

    Absolutely appropriate for our narrow, heavily traveled streets. But they should be asked why does it have to take three years?

  • Jorale-man

    I was just going to write the same thing – 2016 seems like an exceedingly long wait for this.

  • mark

    I hope they are also installed on Columbia Heights. With no lights or stop signs from Montague to Old Fulton, this has turned into people’s personal “express lane” thru the heights.

  • http://www.cognation.net/ deancollins

    lol cross at the crossing dude….problem solved. Just cause you want to break the laws and live…quit complaining.

  • David on Middagh

    More Disqus riffraff.

  • DIBS

    I live right near there. Do you not look before you cross???? Never had a problem with speeding cars if I look before I cross. Give it a try.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Maybe 40 mph but I doubt any cars are approaching 50 mph on Henry st.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Actually 3 years is kind of fast for the city of New York to implement any kind of change.

  • DIBS

    Usually so many double parked cars that they can’t go faster than 20. Difficult to peer around them???? Really????

  • frogger

    do you realize that not everyone has eagle eye vision and can jog across a street when one of these fools speeds by. Go there at 8:30 am someday. There is 4 out of 5 days a week a big delivery truck parked right on the corner. Yes, I have to peer around it . Also the bicycle riders don’t stop for people at all. they are even worse .. lots of kids and seniors in that area. Its dangerous. Don’t defend morons that think they have the right of way .

  • Park Lover

    Is Furman St part of this? Cars treat it as an expressway, but when the tourist buses appear, it’s an ultra-slow zone, as they travel southbound about 7-8 mph (at best) ….. Having a consistent 20 mph there would be fabulous.

  • phinatti

    Why would it take another two years for the Heights to become a slow zone? It needs to happen now – not two years from now. How maddening…

  • Quinn Raymond

    Implementing a Slow Zone is the single most effective public safety measure available to us as a community at this point. Really, really glad to see this.

    Now how about some enforcement?

  • Fritz

    Won’t mean much without red light cameras and speed cameras. Which will free the police to do more policing.

  • Andrew Porter

    Actually, 2016 is a mere 27 months away. Think of all the signage and other measures that must be taken.

  • Andrew Porter

    They often go very fast from Clark, headed north on Hicks, trying to get to Cadman Plaza West/Old Fulton, then onto the BQE, ASAP. I’ve seen cars going over 50 there.

  • Andrew Porter

    Maybe you don’t realize that on Henry Street, from Cadman Plaza West to Clark Street, the east side is one continuous street, with no corners, no red lights. Very dangerous, esp. with all the elderly people who live here.

  • eatsshootsleaves

    I’m a reporter with Brooklyn Paper, and I’m hoping to get some thoughts from residents of the neighborhood on these changes. Can some of you give me a call or send an email? Number is 718-673-9616 and email is jlutz@cnglocal.com.

  • north heights res

    Apropos of the tweet above, how will this take away parking spaces?

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    There is a light at Middagh St.