About 20 concerned Park Slopers braved frigid temperatures to give their input on what should be considered with the redesign of their Fourth Avenue corridor at a Forth on Fourth Avenue meeting on Wednesday, January 23.
SJ Avery, co-chair of FoF, which is a committee of the Park Slope Civic Council, explained that this brainstorming session was “practice” for the Department of Transportation’s Fourth Avenue Safety Visioning workshop that will take place on February 12.
The workshop is part of the Borough President’s Fourth Avenue Redesign. Changes have already been implemented in Sunset Park. Next on the list is Park Slope and Bay Ridge. This group’s area of focus is Fourth Avenue between Flatbush Avenue and the Prospect Expressway.
During the meeting, residents split up into two groups, those who live north and those who live south of Third Street. One group sounded off on issues that they felt need to be addressed on the avenue, in terms of pedestrian safety, aesthetics and quality of life issues. The other marked dangerous intersections, greening opportunities and other concerns on a giant map. After a half hour of these break-out sessions, the groups switched, this way everyone got to participate in each activity.
Both groups said many of the same things when asked what “issues” they had with Fourth Avenue.
They included: too many cars going too fast; too few trees; lack of pedestrian refuges, except the one at Union Street; unfriendly to cyclists and pedestrians; noise, especially under the Ninth Street subway station; flooding; too many curb cuts; too much street wall; lack of transition from the Prospect Expressway to residential streets; sidewalk and double parking; undeveloped wasteland and not enough benches.
When asked what they would like to see, residents said they were in favor of better lighting; delayed green on traffic lights; wide, planted medians; traffic calming tools, such as trees, bulbouts, textured pavement and fewer lanes; loading zones; short-term parking and separated bike lanes.
On the map, Park Slopers noted that there are traffic signal issues and backups on Pacific Street and Fourth Avenue; a speeding issue on Baltic Street between Third and Fourth Avenues; speeding on Lincoln Place; chronic manhole flooding at Union Street; lighting issues by the Ninth Street subway station and speeding issues at the Prospect Expressway exit ramp.
“There are lots of screeching tires as I come out of the subway [at Prospect Avenue],” said Sarah Knight, a 16th Street resident.
Her husband, Alex Knight, noted that cars also speed down 15th Street. “It’s used as an artery for people going [to and from] the park,” he explained.
David Gurin contended that the intersection at Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street is one of the most dangerous in the city and that the block could use a little love.
“The noise is horrendous. It echoes,” he said. “There is also ankle-deep garbage.”
The group also discussed preserving historical landmarks, such as the Lyceum and St. Thomas Aquinas Church.
“These are issues beyond the traffic scope that are important to improve our quality of life,” Avery concluded.
The Fourth Avenue Safety Visioning Workshop will take place on Tuesday, February 12 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at St Thomas Aquinas Church, Parish Hall, 249 Ninth Street. For more information, call Christopher Hrones at NYC DOT, 718-222-7259.
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