The Department of Transportation won't commit to a redesign of a dangerous 13-block stretch of Atlantic Avenue due for a major rezoning even as both of the area's Council members make it a condition for the support for the project.
Council Members Crystal Hudson and Chi Ossé both pleaded with DOT officials at a Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises hearing on Thursday to commit to a redesign of the street, which has eight lanes for drivers, including two for parking, and cuts a treacherous gash between residential neighborhoods.
“The administration must commit to a fully-funded redesign of Atlantic Avenue from Flatbush Avenue in the west to Nostrand Avenue in the east," Hudson told DOT officials during the meeting
The rezoning for Atlantic Avenue from Vanderbilt Avenue to Nostrand Avenue will add thousands of new residents to area — making the need for a safer street even more urgent, Hudson and Ossé made clear.
"Atlantic Avenue is one of the most dangerous streets in the city and this much needed housing should be paired with major safety improvements," Ossé said. "The administration must commit to a thoughtful and fully-funded redesign of Atlantic Avenue and give a clear timeline of when such a redesign would be implemented."
But DOT's representative at the hearing, Brooklyn Borough Planner Dash Henley, would not commit to a redesign and said it would take seven to 10 years.
“Seven to 10 years?” asked a surprised Hudson. “That’s a bit ridiculous.”
Henley reiterated the department's commitment to merely study traffic in the area, which he said would take around 18 months, and its commitment to make small improvements at the street's intersections in the interim. He also cited ongoing work to build out a plaza at Lowry Triangle at the intersection of Pacific Street, Underhill Avenue and Washington Avenue.
"DOT is committed to working with you and [Department of City Planning] to figuring out what we can do on this corridor," Henley said. "We agree that this is a Vision Zero priority area, it's a senior safety area."
The study will need to address not only car traffic on the street, but "community needs," "the nature of Atlantic Avenue as a truck route" and any complications with Long Island Railroad infrastructure that runs under the route until east of Bedford Avenue, Henley said.
Advocates who want DOT to commit to a road diet that repurposes two of the corridor’s six car travel lanes for cyclists and pedestrians share Hudson's shock at the long timeline.
“DOT is using all manner of excuses to avoid committing to these crucial safety measures — first trying to claim existing capital projects nearby are part of the Atlantic Avenue Mixed Use Plan, and now tossing out an outlandish seven to 10 year timeline that shifts blame to the next two mayoral administrations,” said Alex Morano, volunteer chair with Transportation Alternatives Brooklyn.
"We know that an Atlantic Avenue road diet can happen quickly, and if streetscape improvements were any kind of priority for this administration this commitment would've been made months or years ago."
DOT’s insistence on waiting for a 10-year capital project to fix the street contradicts its own recent history. The agency has a long track record of turning out redesign plans urgently, including in advance of a capital project.
In 2018, for example, DOT had a redesign ready to install within weeks after a driver struck two families crossing Ninth Street in Park Slope, killing two kids. On nearby Fourth Avenue, the agency installed short-term safety improvements including protect bike lanes in 2018 instead of waiting to do so after capital work on the street wrapped up. That decision seems even wiser in retrospect as the capital working still isn't done after several delays.
The call for safety on Atlantic Avenue has also been ten years in the making, after the de Blasio administration declared the 10-mile arterial a priority in 2015.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso also recently urged DOT to calm traffic on Atlantic Avenue by reallocating lanes for pedestrians and cyclists. The city's own rezoning documents refer to the area as "inhospitable for pedestrians."
From 2021 through 2024, four people — two motorists and two pedestrians — died in car crashed on the short stretch. Another 473 people were injured in 831 total reported crashes — an average of one crash per day — according to data compiled by NYC Crash Mapper.
The majority of the road in the project area is over 120 feet wide, with over 80 percent of public space used for moving or storing vehicles — leaving pedestrians and cyclists to share the scraps.
Morano and his fellow advocates at Transportation Alternatives want to see protected cycling infrastructure added to surrounding streets, a call echoed by the Council members on Thursday.
The group wants barrier-protected bike lanes on Vanderbilt Avenue and Franklin Avenue close to Atlantic Avenue, and to the parallel Bergen Street and Dean Street bike lanes into bike boulevards with a speed limit of 15 miles per hour.
The Council will vote on the rezoning plan, but typically defers to the preference of local reps.
