Looks like Gerritsen Avenue is going to be getting some new traffic medians in the future.
In the past year or so a community committee met with the Department of Transportation to discuss traffic configurations to slow down traffic. The painted center median was the first to come of this meeting.
In the next phase Gerritsen Avenue will be getting “Green Streets” but not until the plans are approved by the local politicians, and the community at a hearing.
As of Wednesday May 6th, at the property owners meeting, a representative from Marty Golden’s office said the plans were currently unacceptable until the Department fixed them.
Ok, so we are going to get a new face lift using cement traffic medians with a garden in the middle. Isn’t that special. This will lead to more accidents and possibly deaths. Driving into Gerritsen Avenue as it is with the zebra stripes on the road, is very dangerous. There is not enough clearance between the parked cars and the on coming traffic due to these stripes. In fact, a city bus has to go onto these stripes in order to go down the street and if these median’s are put in place how is a bus going to get down this avenue when it doesn’t fit in the lane at the present time. If you open your car door, and if a car is up coming up the avenue, this car must also move into the zebra stripes or you will lose your car door or even hit the person coming out of that car. So please tell me how does a concrete median make it less hazardous for the traffic problems we have now. What we need is traffic lights on the following corners Channel, Florence, and Seba Avenues, which this community has asked for time and time again to no avail. Take away the zebra strikes and install these traffic lights asap.
To stop people from running these lights, the DOT can install cameras to catch this law breakers. I myself don’t drive down the avenue anymore since the change. I prefer to go down the side streets. I don’t feel like dealing with people honking because I am going the proper speed, dodging car doors and people coming out of their cars. The cars that speed around you ( going on the zebra stripes) and then cutting you off because you are delaying them to get home by maybe 3 to 5 minutes. Why can’t anyone understand that, that the 3 to 5 minutes it take’s to get home just might save a life ( ex: hitting a person with your car or a car accident). All I know is the DOT better get ready to keep a cement truck and a crew available 24 hours a day to repair said medians because this is going to be a disaster.
The DOT doesn’t want to really help this community it seems and I say this because as of this date, there has been no satisfactory solution to the many car accidents and deaths in Gerritsen Beach. How many people have to die before the DOT gets it right????????
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You complain that the DOT has not done anything to help this community, yet when they come up with an idea you deny that it will work. Do you really think this city is going to do something so ridiculous as of putting a green street in place that is too large that would not permit a city bus from being able to fit down Gerrittsen Avenue. If you were to come to some community meeting you would be able to voice your opinion to the DOT, and if you did come to community meeting you would know why the DOT cannot put traffic signals or stop signs on these corners.
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I no longer go to these community meeting due to the fact years ago, when we had to have our new water mains replaced I found out the GBPOA was not there for the people in our community. I knew of three elderly people who could not afford the expense of the new hook up. When I expressed my concern for these people and asked if the city could give them a discount or a loan which they could pay off, someone from GBPOA board stood up and said no that’s the price you have to pay for being a home owner. When I attempted to ask another question they refused to let me speak. From that day on I no longer went to these meeting’s and feel the GBOPA is only out to make themselves look good and at the same time don’t give a damn about the people in this community. If it wasn’t for certain contractor’s helping out these elderly people they wouldn’t have water in there homes. Those contractor’s are the hero’s not GBPOA. I am not the only one that feel’s this way, other people who came to that meeting that day were totally taken back by GBPOA response for the elderly. So, I feel there’s no point in going to a meeting when GBPOA is going to side with the city once again and don’t care how the community feel’s or the danger it may present. The minutes from these meeting’s should be able to be read by anyone at anytime. They can either place them in the gerritsen paper ( our news), or have a web site where they can be viewed and let our community know other things that are going on, but this will never happen because there attitude is if you didn’t make the meeting well to bad come next month.
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It would be nice if these Anonymous comments were a little less anonymous, when you enter your email address while commenting, the address doesn’t become public.
It looks like the same person is commenting with each other.
Hi,
I agree some what with the June 10 th post about the room necessary for the city buses & the opening of a car doors.
I think the new Garden Medians will make a nice addition to the avenue providing they are constructed with the flow of traffic in mind.
I work for the NYCTA – Dept Of Buses & it’s not that the city bus can’t fit between the lines but bus drivers are instructed to operate the the bus to the extreme left of the lane.
This is to provide at least a 4 ft space between the parked cars & the bus as it passes. if this distance isn’t provided between the bus & a car someone standing between the two vehicles a pedestrian or an occupant of the vehicle could get sucked under or struck by the bus as it passes.
I hope this explains why when you see a city bus driving down the street you see the tires are on the white or yellow lines
Presently we have the 2 left lanes stripes off & converted into left hand turning lanes. If in both directions of traffic on the right side of the street using 1/2 the size of one lane Bicycle lanes were installed there would be plenty of room for the cars & buses to pass & the center could remain as left hand turning lanes with a garden in place.
Also a couple of Traffic Lights added to the mix would be a beautiful thing !!!!!!
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