In response to community concerns following a string of car accidents on Underhill Avenue between Park and Prospect Places (the most recent one from December 2012 is pictured above), the New York City Department of Transportation has investigated ways to adjust the signal timing to promote slower speeds and plans to implement the following no later than March of this year:

A group of elected officials, civic groups and advocates have come together to highlight Downtown Brooklyn’s transportation challenges. Population and transit ridership have skyrocketed over the last twenty years in Brooklyn, but New York City Department of Transportation and City Plan have yet to develop a plan to accommodate increased demand on the borough’s transportation infrastructure.

The groups, including the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, the Office of New York State Assemblymember and Congressman-elect Hakeem Jeffries, the Office of New York City Council Member Letitia James, Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, Park Slope Civic Council, and the Boerum Hill Association, released a report, the “BK Gateway Vision: Planning for Now and the Next Generation of Downtown Brooklyn,” that lays out potential solutions to the transportation-land use challenges in the BK Gateway area.  The area includes the downtown neighborhoods bounded by the East River, Nostrand Avenue, Empire Boulevard and 9th Street. 

Starting this week, NYC DOT will be making short-term improvements on north Flatbush Avenue to provide pedestrian safety benefits in anticipation of an upcoming capital construction project (in 2014) that will expand curb lines and sidewalks. The short-term improvements include:

On July 12, 2012 the NYC Department of Transportation announced the selection of 13 Neighborhood Slow Zones for implementation across New York City in 2012. Prospect Heights was not selected. On February 3, 2012 PHNDC had submitted a Slow  Zone Application to DOT with more than 1200 petition signatures and 35 letters of support from locally elected officials, block associations, schools, daycare centers, parent organizations, houses of worship, and service and residential facilities. Although PHNDC is very disappointed that Prospect Heights was not selected, we expect to be ready to apply again in 2013.