Wednesday, January 21, 2015

DOT'S PROPOSALS THROUGH THE EYES OF COMMUNITY BOARD 7

Site plan for PS/IS 437 at 701 Caton Avenue


Community Board 7 summarized what transpired at the January 8th meeting between the Windsor Terrace and Kensington communities and the Department of Transportation.
"On January 8, Councilman Brad Lander and Community Board 7 sponsored a meeting at PS 130 to discuss the Department of Transportation's plans to improve safety on Caton Avenue and surrounding streets. This corridor is a truck route and will soon be home to PS/IS 437, located between East 7th and East 8th Streets, which is scheduled to open in September, 2015.

The Community Board and Councilman have called on the Department of Transportation to conduct a safety study for Caton Avenue between McDonald Avenue and Coney Island Avenue. The study was made even more urgent by a recent pedestrian fatality on East 7th Street and Caton Avenue. The Community Board has long called for more school crossing guards on this dangerous street.

The Department of Transportation's plan includes reducing traffic lanes, adding turning bays, pedestrian islands, lower school speed limits, curb extensions, high visibility crosswalks and retiming lights. DOT's plan can be reviewed at this link.

Community Board 7 has also called for speeding up pedestrian countdown clocks on Caton Avenue and a safety study for McDonald Avenue, as well as more school crossing guards, district-wide.  Community Board 7's Transportation Committee also expects to review DOT's Truck Route study in the near future."