Let there be a light at 83rd Street and Colonial Road

Let there be a light!

The Department of Transportation will install a traffic signal at the intersection of 83^rd Street and Colonial Road sometime before April 30. The corner is adjacent to Russell Pederson Playground, as well as near Fort Hamilton High School.

Local elected officials applauded the move.

“On behalf of the entire community, I commend the DOT for finally ‘seeing the light’ and recognizing the need for a change at this incredibly busy intersection,” said Councilmember Vincent Gentile.

“We need to slow down traffic and make crossing Colonial Road safer for all of our Fort Hamilton High School students, our area residents, and our families who utilize Russell Pederson playground,” added State Senator Marty Golden.

But, residents say this is only a quick fix for more extensive traffic problems.

“More traffic signals near schools and playgrounds are good for safety,” said Brian Kieran, chair of Community Board 10’s Traffic and Transportation Committee. “But I would like to see DOT move quickly on addressing concerns along Fourth Avenue with the same sort of attention they are paying to this particular intersection.”

Ed Finnegan, a resident of 78^th Street off of Colonial Road, said that the light is a good start, but another one is needed at 85^th Street.

“You have high school kids crossing there and kids wandering into the road without looking. Those are two big corners,” he said, adding that there are still no measures in place to prevent speeding between Bay Ridge Parkway and 80^th Street, where there are a light and stop sign, respectively.

“If you parallel it up to Ridge [Boulevard], you have a stop sign at 77^th Street, a light at 78^th Street, a light at 81^st Street, a stop sign at 82^nd Street and then a light at 85^th Street,” he explained. “That is a much less traveled road than Colonial Road is.”

John Ronan lives on 84^th Street off of Colonial Road. He said he “feels bad” about the traffic signal.

“A traffic light at an intersection like that with no cross traffic is a big waste of time. I will sit at a stale red light now,” he said. “It seems like stop signs are the best way to go along that route. People [will be] sitting idle at this light. It’s very bothersome to me.”

He added that the light at Ridge Boulevard and 81^st Street presents the same problems.

“It makes no sense for the same reason. I have a friend who left [that block] to avoid the light for the rest of their life,” Ronan concluded.