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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Tillary Street Redesign Meeting: DOT Gets Input From Brooklyn Residents

In what sounded like a constructive meeting, residents were encouraged on Tuesday to contribute ideas to the DOT about how to improve Tillary Street in Downtown Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Eagle sat in on a discussion with one group that focused on the Tillary-Adams intersection. Members of the group brainstormed several ideas, including shrinking the service roads and widening the medians as a way of allowing more room for pedestrians to cross safely.

Other ideas discussed: A wider central median on Adams Street, possibly even with park benches; larger and safer bicycle lanes; and more here.

In June, the DOT made a trial change in traffic patterns at the intersection of Adams and Tillary streets, at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. This intersection (marked with an orange arrow, above) has been the scene of many devastating accidents.

-Traffic Changes Saturday at Dangerous Downtown Brooklyn Intersection

- Remembering the Dead at a Dangerous Brooklyn Intersection -- Tillary and Adams Street

- Another Accident at Tillary and Adams Streets

- DOT traffic cam at the intersection of Adams and Tillary streets.

Diagram by DOT

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

4 comments:

  1. what the trial pattern has done is force turning cars to turn at Livingston and Boerum, where traffic conditions are horrendous. Preventing turns ar Adams and Tillary just pushes the problem to another intersection.

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  2. Totally agree with Anonymous. They have been re-jiggering the entire stretch for a long time, and the problems for both traffic circulation and pedestrians have not been solved, just displaced.

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  3. Meanwhile, I don't agree at all.

    I'm a bicyclist and pedestrian over the Brooklyn Bridge as well as a driver. I have long avoided Tillary on the way home at night, preferring to walk my bike down the stairs, and stay away from the deathtrap intersection.

    Now, I don't feel nearly so apprehensive, on foot, bike, or behind the wheel.

    The biggest change has really been doubling the walk time on the northern/bridge side of the Tillary/Adams intersection. Prior, there literally wasn't enough time to get across, and so cars would find a person in their green-lit travel lane.

    That was precisely where most people died.

    Displacement of the traffic away from Tillary and Adams to a place that isn't so congested is fine by me. (And I live closer to the Schermerhorn/Livingston intersection that anon bitched about above. It's fine, I don't know what he's talking about, but even if he were correct, it'd be a good thing.)

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  4. Kaja -

    Same Anonymous from above here. There have been multiple fatalities at the Boerum-Livingston intersection, including an 8-year-old bicyclist riding with his father in the bike lane last year. That's ok by you? Adams and Tillary was the worst deathtrap in Brooklyn (stats from crashstat.org), so moving it a few blocks back is fine? Livingston and Boerum is much more congested and dangerous now (since there is one fewer intersection at which cars can turn, and there are arguably more pedestrians crossing the street there).

    Sorry to "bitch" about it but when you've seen the blood of a 8-year-old on the pavement from your window maybe a little "bitching" is necessary to prevent that from happening again.

    But I'm glad you don't have to walk your bike down the stairs anymore. That is a great relief.

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