The Department of Transportation is working to improve safety along Atlantic Avenue between Georgia Avenue and Rockaway Boulevard. Over the next few years, we will be implementing a two-phase project to comprehensively overhaul Atlantic Avenue to make it a much safer corridor for all road users.
Why we are here:
- The community has been asking the Department of Transportation to make improvements to Atlantic Avenue to enhance safety
- Atlantic Avenue is a Vision Zero Priority Corridor
- Atlantic Avenue is part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Great Streets Initiative, in which we focus on bringing safety improvements to wide, dangerous streets throughout all 5 boroughs.
Current Safety Problems:
- Top 10% of Brooklyn streets for severe injuries and fatalities per mile
- 79 persons killed or severely injured along 2.4 mile long corridor in a 5 year stretch, 27 of whom were pedestrians.
- The roadway is extremely wide. Pedestrians have to cross six lanes of traffic and two lanes of parked cars!
- The medians in the road are narrow and unsafe for pedestrians who need to wait in the middle of the street with a red light
- Pedestrians cross the street at locations that are convenient for them, but some of these locations do not have crosswalks or signals
- Turning cars block the flow of traffic, forcing cars to change lanes dangerously and aggressively
- Confusing, abnormal intersections create unpredictable conditions that endanger both drivers and pedestrians.
What is Happening:
- A two phase project
- Phase one (approved unanimously in December 2015) is from Georgia Avenue to Logan Street
- Construction is scheduled to start in 2017
- Phase two is from Logan Street to Rockaway Boulevard
- Plans are in development and proposals should come to Community Boards in 2016
- Construction is scheduled to start in 2018
- Phase one (approved unanimously in December 2015) is from Georgia Avenue to Logan Street
- What Changes Will I see?
- Larger medians with protected crossings, traffic calming design elements with separate left turn lanes, turn bans, and signal timing changes to enhance safety.
- New high visibility crosswalks so that pedestrians can safely cross at more locatoins along the street
- Street and sidewalk reconstruction and enhancement to make walking and driving along the street more pleasant
What's Next?
- Use our feedback map to tell us where there are currently issues that affect you as a pedestrian, cyclist or driver. We will use this feedback to help us develop our final proposal for the corridor.
- Take our online survey to let us know how you currently are using Atlantic Ave as a pedestrian, driver, or cyclist
- Continue to periodically check our feedback portal for updates on meetings and new information, which will be posted when available.
- A proposal for Phase II should be expected later in 2017
- Construction is expected to begin on Phase I later in 2017