Slow Zone Coming To Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue To Reduce Traffic Fatalities
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police and the city Department of Transportation on Wednesday announced a "slow zone" that will be implemented on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, in an effort to reduce speeding.
The first of 25 planned arterial slow zones will be put in place this moth along almost eight miles of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, the DOT said in a news release.
Other slow zones will be enacted throughout the year, the department said.
DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said the data show the slow zones will make the city's streets safer.
"It is absolutely true that when you reduce speed, you both reduce crashes, and when there are crashes, you reduce the possibility that there is going to be a serious or fatal outcome," Trottenberg told 1010 WINS.
The effort will involve retiming traffic lights for 25 mph along the affected stretch of Atlantic Avenue. It will also involve new signs and increased police enforcement.
The Atlantic Avenue corridor saw 25 traffic fatalities – including 13 pedestrians – between 2008 and 2012.
"That has long been, unfortunately, an arterial that has had a lot of crashes, and we have heard from a lot of community members and elected officials about it," Trottenberg said, "and so, you know, in fact, there's a whole coalition that's been formed – with Councilwoman (Laurie) Cumbo (D-35th), who represents part of the area, and Transportation Alternatives. There's been a lot of interest in doing something on Atlantic Avenue."
Trottenberg added in a news release that Atlantic Avenue has wide open lanes and long crosswalks, which have made for difficulty for schoolchildren, seniors, and others who may be vulnerable when they cross the street.
The effort on Atlantic Avenue is part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero campaign against traffic fatalities.
The campaign was launched in February as an aggressive crackdown on speeding and other traffic violations in an effort to reduce traffic accidents in New York City, especially those involving pedestrians.
The 63-point strategy includes:
- Increasing enforcement against speeding
- Developing borough-specific street safety plans
- Redesigning 50 intersections and corridors each year to improve safety
- Reducing the citywide speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph
- Expanding the use of speed and red light enforcement cameras
- Expanding neighborhood "slow zones"
- Putting stiffer penalties on taxi and livery drivers who drive dangerously.
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