NYC DOT recently unveiled its Pedestrian Safety Action Plan for Brooklyn, along with action plans for each borough.  Under the Vision Zero policy championed by traffic safety advocates and adopted by Mayor de Blasio, the report identifies dangerous streets and lays out actions to improve safety.

Using KSI (pedestrians Killed or Severely Injured), the report ranks all intersections, corridors, and areas (see Brooklyn Priority Map below).  According to the report, Myrtle Avenue (from Flatbush to Wyckoff) is the 6th most dangerous corridor in Brooklyn with 11.1 KSI/mile.  As a comparison, Flatbush Avenue, from Fulton Street to Grand Army Plaza, is the most dangerous in Brooklyn with 20.8 KSI/mile.  The report also identifies the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Flatbush Avenue as a priority intersection.

What does this mean for Myrtle Avenue?  According to the report:

• DOT will install Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs) at every feasible school crossing crosswalk on all Brooklyn Priority Corridors by 2017.
• DOT will install LPIs at every feasible Brooklyn Priority Intersection by the end of 2017.
• To better control speeds, DOT will modify off-peak signal timing on all feasible Brooklyn Priority Corridors by 2017.
• In 2015, speed limit signage will be expanded so the speed limit will be posted at a higher frequency along Brooklyn Priority Corridors.
• NYPD will focus enforcement on Priority Corridors, Intersections, and Areas.
• DOT’s Safety Education team will focus their programs at or near Priority Corridors, Intersections, and Areas.

The Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership welcomes DOT’s efforts to improve pedestrian safety and we will work with the agency, as needed, to make Myrtle Avenue safer for everyone.  After years of advocacy by MARP, DOT designed and installed safety improvements to Park Avenue in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.  The city has also begun construction of Myrtle Avenue Plaza, which was requested by MARP and includes various pedestrian safety upgrades.