As many of you have noticed by now, the Department of Transportation has done a considerable amount of work on Gerritsen Avenue – removing two lanes of traffic, re-striping of lanes and adding a center median, and adding a pedestrian median at its intersection with Avenue U. Strongly a pessimist when it comes to “traffic reconfiguring” projects, I was not confident that this would be a successful endeavor. Sadly, I think I am correct. In my estimation, the removal of two lanes of traffic has caused further congestion and the turn from Knapp Street onto Gerritsen Avenue heading north has become even more treacherous than it was before. For further information and some VERY TELLING photographs, you must visit GerritsenBeach.net’s coverage of the project.
Does this impede FDNY from exiting their firehouse for emergencies if there is a line of traffic backed up from each direction? How does this impact traffic on Gerritsen Avenue when buses pull over in the “parking/standing” lane? Is traffic forced to drive on the striped median if the bus is unable to pull over? Conversely, does this faciliate easier crossing for kids from Good Shepherd or Marine Park JHS? Thoughts?
What are your feelings on DOT’s new traffic reconfiguration?
What a mess! Who was the genius who came up with this idea? I drive the stretch of Gerritsen Ave. from Ave. R to Knapp St. several times a day and I’ve seen more near misses than I can count. My husband was already sideswiped by a driver who rode the striped median until he could (not quite) cut in. The left turn from Knapp onto northbound Gerritsen Ave. is a disaster.
In this world of ever increasing traffic, why would you ever eliminate lanes that keep it moving?
It’s just a matter of time until the cops start pulling motorists over for riding the white lines to go around a school bus that’s waiting for a pick up/drop off (no flashing red lights) or for a double parked car.
If this new configuration slows down the clowns who think this is a 50 mph highway, great. What I can’t figure out is why they have had a right turn signal from Gerritsen northbound onto Avenue U, but have never bothered with a left turn signal from Gerritsen northbound onto Avenue U, which during the Summer gets backed up with a lot of people heading towards the beach?