The city will ban cars on a short, but dangerous, street in Bushwick where a fatal crash happened last year, and ban parking at several nearby corners to improve visibility, a growingly popular redesign known as daylighting.
The back of the Bushwick Triangle at Scott Avenue, between Flushing and Johnson Avenues, will turn into a car-free space, and the Department of Transportation also proposes to remove car storage at corners two blocks south to Troutman Street, the agency told Community Board 4 last week. [PDF]
Motorcyclist Philippe Haussmann, 29, was killed by a box truck driver at Scott and Flushing avenues last August, and the upgrades can't come soon enough, his mom told Streetsblog.
"Unfortunately, somebody has to die before something gets done," said Joann Perahia. "I know that parts of Scott Avenue will lose certain things, but my main thing was to make it safer."
Officials will also narrow Scott Avenue further south at the corners with paint, planters and granite blocks between Flushing and Troutman Street.
At the corner of Troutman, DOT plans to build out a concrete peninsula for pedestrians, and ban right turns onto Scott, diverting more traffic from cutting through and improving the complicated corner for pedestrians.
The changes resulted from a push by Perahia, who turned the loss of her son into action to improve safety on the corridor that connects industrial, residential and commercial parts of the neighborhood at the Brooklyn-Queens border.
She and local lawmakers took DOT on a walkthrough last fall, and advocates with Transportation Alternatives launched an online petition.
The changes will increase safety for an area that has seen a surge in activity in recent years, thanks to the nightlife corridor and open street on Troutman, and an emergency shelter the Adams administration set up in recent years, according to a local pol.
"We have significantly more foot traffic than we ever had," said Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez. "It’s not a quiet street, it’s not an area that is only used Monday to Friday."
DOT plans to turn the short two-way strip of Scott Avenue between Flushing and Johnson avenues into a pedestrian plaza, which will remove an unsafe cut-through.
Drivers struggle to see oncoming traffic on Scott Avenue at Jefferson Street and at Flushing Avenue, due to parking blocking sight lines and the angle of the street, according to DOT.
Haussmann was riding north on Scott Avenue when the trucker, heading west on Flushing, struck and killed him. That section of Scott Avenue is confusing because drivers heading the way Haussmann did on that fatal day might miss the stop sign at the corner of Flushing and head straight through the busy road to Johnson Avenue, where there's a traffic light, said the victim's twin brother.
"It’s a misleading intersection," Alex Haussmann told Streetsblog.
The intersection of Scott and Flushing avenues is a hotspot for crashes, with 39 reported incidents, including the death of Haussmann, between 2020-2024, according to DOT data.
Closing off the short strip will "minimize the confusion," Haussmann hoped. Traffic will flow around the triangle at Scott Flushing and Johnson, the latter two of which are also both are truck routes, bringing heavy hauling traffic to the area.
The types of extensions DOT plans for the corners south to Troutman can reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries by 34 percent, and by 45 percent for pedestrians specifically, according to an agency rep.
"Our proposal for Scott Avenue would dramatically expand pedestrian space, improve safety for everyone, and better organize traffic along unconventional intersections of Scott Avenue," said Mona Bruno. "One loss of life is too many, and we look forward to continuing refining our concept with the community before installation later this year."
The plan will repurpose parking spaces on the short stretch of Scott and near corners, but Gutierrez said that the usual pushback from drivers has not materialized.
"I don’t think we’ve heard a ton of negative feedback given the life that was lost there," the pol said.
Advocates cheered the redesign, saying it will save lives.
"It’s great news for Bushwick pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists that DOT is proposing major safety improvements along Scott Avenue," said Transportation Alternatives's Executive Director Ben Furnas. "Redesigning the area will prevent future crashes and save lives."
