The Brooklyn Paper ran one of its trademark neighbor-vs.-neighbor stories today, turning a weekend public workshop about implementing a 20 mph zone in Park Slope into an occasion for more conflict-driven reporting:
Greenwood Heights activists claim drivers heading south on Sixth Avenue already speed up once they cross the Prospect Expressway and hit a five-block stretch between 20th and 25th streets with no stop signs.
“It’s already treacherous,” said resident Sarah Raskin. “This would divert unsafe driving from one neighborhood to another.”
Sounds like streets in Greenwood Heights need traffic calming too. And in fact, the Greenwood Heights residents quoted in the Brooklyn Paper seem to be saying they'd welcome a slow zone that encompasses their neighborhood.
It would be great to see a blanket 20 mph speed limit -- pioneered by NYC DOT in the Bronx neighborhood of Claremont -- extend to many neighborhoods at once. But if Park Slope gets a slow zone before Greenwood Heights, or if Greenwood Heights gets a slow zone before Park Slope, research suggests both neighborhoods will still be better off.
The definitive piece of research on 20 mph zones was published in the British Medical Journal in 2009. Reviewing 20 years of data, researchers found that London's 20 mph zones, a patchwork of neighborhoods that expanded gradually over many years, prevent 27 traffic deaths and serious injuries annually. Within the zones, serious traffic injuries and deaths fell 46 percent, and children sustained 50 percent fewer casualties.
Significantly, the authors reported that the data "suggests that casualties inside 20 mph zones are not being displaced to nearby roads." And on top of that, they found a spillover effect, with traffic injuries and deaths declining eight percent in areas adjacent to the slow zones (within 150 meters, or about two NYC blocks).
Adding slow zones is not a zero-sum game.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
Eyes On The Street: Coastal Resiliency Causes Mess For Pedestrians and Cyclists
Unfortunately for cyclists and pedestrians, this situation won't be fixed until "at least 2026.”
State Pols Still Haven’t Spent Millions Alloted for Transit as Congestion Pricing Looms
There's like $45 million sitting there — unspent — for outer borough transit improvements. What are state pols waiting for?
Supporters, Mayor Rally for ‘City of Yes’ Zoning Change as it Enters Public Review Phase
The mayor's signature zoning plan is ready for review by all 59 community board, plus the city's five borough presidents and then each Council member. Advocates are worried it will be watered down.
‘Buy, Bully, Bamboozle’: Report Alleges App Companies Threaten Democracy
App delivery companies seek to block worker-led improvements by spending big money on political influence, leveraging their data, and even co-opting progressive language, argues a new report that lands days before a national one-day strike by app-workers.
