Brooklyn Heights Association and Other Local Civic and Business Groups Demand Action on Atlantic Avenue Safety

By on August 20, 2023 10:40 pm in 11201, Beorum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn Heights Association, Cobble Hill, Public Safety, Streets, Traffic

Spurred by last Monday morning’s fatal car crash at Atlantic Avenue and Court Street, which follows the killing of a pedestrian at Atlantic and Clinton Street in April, the Brooklyn Heights Association, along with the Willowtown Association, the Atlantic Avenue BID, the Cobble Hill Association, and the Boerum Hill Association, has issued a statement demanding “immediate and comprehensive safety measures along Atlantic Avenue.”

Atlantic Avenue is designated as a DOT Great Street and Vision Zero Priority Corridor, yet the “priority” appears to be in name only. Despite numerous calls to action, nothing has changed. How many more lives need to be lost before the City addresses the pressing need for immediate and comprehensive safety measures along Atlantic Avenue? No one should risk their lives while navigating our neighborhood streets, and it is clear that Atlantic Avenue is dangerous for all users. Although still under investigation, we do know that speeding was an essential component of this deadly crash. DOT knows how to design safe streets, yet Atlantic Avenue’s design remains lethal for drivers and pedestrians.

What the statement doesn’t note is that the car that caused last Monday’s fatal crash was speeding on Court Street when it collided with a car crossing Court on Atlantic. Perhaps some sort of traffic calming measures are needed on Court as well.

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  • Jorale-man

    Yes – speed bumps, please. Enough with the drivers treating Atlantic as their personal drag race course.

  • Andrew Porter

    There is absolutely no way to prevent morons from driving at high speeds while drunk or on drugs, going through red lights, or driving without a license.

  • WS Gilbert

    I also see a problem with gigantic trucks barreling at high speeds and speed bumps will do nothing for that. We have to stop Atlantic Ave from being used as if it were an interstate. But how?

  • Andrew Porter

    The Eagle’s Mary Frost reports that the NYPD has posted a temporary police detail at the intersection of Atlantic and Court to remind motorists of the rules. Article here:

    https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2023/08/22/police-set-up-atlantic-avenue-checkpoint-after-deadly-crash/

  • Effective Presenter

    Right demand all you want NO way to prevent reckless drivers on drugs, drunk, etc.

    Atlantic Ave and Court Street is just one of dozens of dangerous intersections in Brooklyn.

    Adding speed bumps really lage bumps that will create traffic jams save lives also.

    Pedestrians must take responsibility for their own safety and STOP Jay-Walking the huge trucks may not be able to see you and you can get hurt maimed for life of killed.

  • malcolm

    I don’t understand the defeatism here. Don’t we all live here? Let’s do everything we can. Yes to speed bumps, yes to enforcement, yes to closing the QB BQE entrance. We have to stop excusing car violence like it’s just something that happens like gun violence. Most of us here would not be okay with the latter, but apparently the former, which we could solve locally, we shrug at?

  • B.

    No one excuses car violence, but speed bumps, bump-outs, lower speed limits, and closing streets will only cripple movement. We are not a strolling city; we are on the move. We work. (Or used to.)

    Instead, base punishment on speed and flouting of traffic rules: Going 35 mph in a 25-mph zone should get you a hefty fine, getting multiple tickets at that speed should get your car confiscated, and going 50 mph on Atlantic Avenue or blasting through a red light at 35-45 should immediately land you in jail. Stopped at a red light, I’ve had drivers behind me swerve and roar past me. These drivers are criminals. And I think our jails are nowhere near crowded enough.