Eyes on the Street: Bigger Sidewalks, Better Bike Lanes, Safer Streets

Clarence Eckerson sends these shots of DOT street safety improvements taken on a recent ride near the Brooklyn and Queens waterfront. Above is the newly traffic-calmed intersection of Joralemon and Hicks -- part of the Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming Project -- which now sports two sidewalk extensions. (According to the Post, a third corner was slated for a curb extension, but DOT changed plans after residents said they were worried about how fire trucks would negotiate the turn.) Says Clarence: "I am sure the speed reductions will be dramatic, the equivalent of a chicane."

Heading towards Queens, the city's stock of bi-directional, protected bike paths is on the rise. Williamsburg Street West now connects Kent Avenue to Flushing Avenue, allowing cyclists to ride contraflow to Kent safely and legally. This is also a segment along the future Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.

More pics after the jump.

On Kent Avenue, cyclists entering the bike path from South 4th Street now have a high-visibility entry point, which should help remind drivers not to park here and block the way.

A new planted median calms traffic on Jackson Avenue in Long Island City. At some intersections these long median strips are equipped with pedestrian refuges, Clarence informs us, concluding his tour of stuff that, apparently, has some unnamed council members calling for the DOT commissioner's head.