Safety measures needed for 65th Street corridor, say advocates

The Department of Transportation is in the midst of completing a safety survey of traffic along the 65th Street corridor, between Fourth and 14th Avenues, but officials at I.S. 187, Christa McAuliffe Intermediate School, are saying that more measures are needed.

Principal Justin Berman said that traffic control is needed during arrival and dismissal times at the intersection of 65th Street and 12th Avenue where the school is located.

“It’s 65th Street,” he said, adding that the school does not have a crossing guard because it is an intermediate school. Only elementary schools are given crossing guards.

Berman said that some traffic control measures he would like to see are a prohibition on left turns during arrival and dismissal times, a delayed red light, plastic median dividers so drivers cannot make U-turns and a stop sign on the corner of 64th Street and 12th Avenue, which currently has no signage at all.

“I know the Department of Transportation is working on it and Community Board 10 is working on it,” Berman said. “It’s a very busy thoroughfare.”

Brian Kieran, chair of Community Board 10’s Traffic and Transportation Committee, said at the April general board meeting that accidents along the 65th Street corridor have decreased overall, but pedestrian accidents have increased between 2006 and 2010.

The most problematic intersections are at Sixth Avenue, with 49 accidents; Eighth Avenue, which had 30, with seven involving pedestrians; Fort Hamilton Parkway, with 50 accidents, three involving pedestrians and one involving a cyclist: and 12th Avenue with 18 accidents, three involving pedestrians.

“Overall, pedestrian safety has decreased. These are hot spots for danger,” Kieran said, adding that after the safety survey is finished, intersections on or adjacent to the corridor can receive upgrades such as four-way stop signs (where currently no traffic control devices may exist) and countdown clocks.