The DOT's Broken Promises

Last week, Community Board 8 passed a motion to accept as formulated by the NYC Department of Transportation and by the community board's Traffic & Transportation Committee.  Work will commence within 2 weeks.

Part of the problem is that the plan which the Traffic and Transportation Committee approved included three distinct east/west crosswalks at Lincoln Place. The present DOT plan currently calls for only two crosswalks at that multi-cornered and diagonal intersection. The head of the DOT's Pedestrian Safety Group advised me the morning after the Comunity Board approved the new plan that the City's Engineers deemed it unsafe to have multiple crosswalks so near to one another. She appologized and promised to investigate further the possibility to create 2 long diagonal crosswalks rather than having the 3rd perpendicular crosswalk eliminated altogether but admitted that there was only "a 2% chance" of having that happen.

Lincoln Pl/Washington Ave is unique in that the intersection is so significantly diagonal that the street corners do not align. Three perpendicular crosswalks really are required.

Even though parking is restricted to allow space for that crosswalk as well as to provide visibility of and for pedestrians, anyone crossing there will be jay walking. And even though there are overhead electronic signals as well as a pre-existing post for Walk/Don't Walk electronic signs, the DOT engineers have overridden their own Pedestrian Safety Group who previously sanctioned the three crosswalks.

So what was the point in having so many community advisory meetings? What was the point of having the T&T Committee recomend to their Comunity Board that they accept a plan which is different than the one they approved? Did they even know it was different?

Now look. I trust the DOT's Pedestrian Safety Group. I also believe that their engineers know a whole heck of a lot more than I do about what's safe and what's not when it comes to city streets and intersections. But I also know human nature. It is only natural that a person will take the shortest distance between 2 points. To expect a person to walk across Lincoln Place before crossing Washington Avenue (and visa-versa) is simply not going to happen. Or to expect people to ignore a crosswalk whether it is marked or not is unrealistic and possibly even dangerous.

Was the whole point simply a guise to get community approval to impliment more bike lanes? My opinion is that bike lanes are not necessarily a bad thing. Deceit is.

What's your view?