Kenn Lowy (member of the "Traffic & Safety Committee" of CB2) has been telling me about a new plan by the city to reroute traffic going onto the Brooklyn Bridge. The plan is to make left turns from Tillary onto the bridge illegal (gee...don't most taxis use Tillary?) and reroute the traffic down Cadman Plaza West or down Jay Street. From Kenn's blog I get these illustrations of what they plan:

The basic change:

The expected (based on what?) reroute:

From the DOT I get this description of their plan:

Brooklyn Bridge Access, Brooklyn (June 2008)
Starting on June 7, 2008 NYCDOT will undertake a six month trial of new traffic patterns at the intersection of Adams and Tillary Streets in downtown Brooklyn. The goal is to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. Changes include modified signal timing, turn prohibitions, and reallocation of travel lanes. This will result in more crossing time for pedestrians and cyclists crossing the intersection and/or accessing the Brooklyn Bridge and less potential conflicts with vehicles. It will also address local congestion by providing additional time for key vehicle movements, such as southbound left turns coming from the Brooklyn Bridge. NYCDOT will be working with community stakeholders over the next six months to monitor the results of these changes and make adjustments as warranted.

For more details, go here (PDF).

Kenn Lowy, who has discussed this with many people, has this to say about the proposal:

This is the plan from hell! Whoever thought it up needs to find a new job. I have not been able to find one elected official who is for the plan. The Transportation and Public Safety Committee of CB2 voted to ask the NYCDOT to go back to the drawing board because they thought the plan was horrible (the vote was 7 yes, 2 no, 1 abstention). Even residents of Concord Village who initially asked for more time to cross the street are baffled. Now they can't even drive into Concord Village without having to pass it first.

It is unclear to me how the rerouting will help rather than merely make the whole situation a worse mess than it already is. But look...it's a 6 month trial, right? Which means your input will be important, we hope. If these changes affect you, speak out. It is critical that you speak out or they will assume silence is assent.

You can do three things: 1.)call 311 when it goes into affect on June 7th and tell them what you think. Gotta say, much as I am no fan of Bloomberg, 311 was a brilliant idea and I have found it very useful. My wife and I used it just this morning to report a broken traffic light that was causing a traffic snarl and heated tempers on 7th Ave. 2.) call your city councilman. Now there really are two parts to this. You can call YOUR citycouncilman to give your opinion. Find your city council rep here. But just as important, the traffic problems that this change causes affect the city council district of David Yassky. He may not be thrilled I am telling people to call him who may not be in his district, but the traffic issue IS in his district and he needs to hear about it both from residents of his district and those who might be coming and going from his district for business or shopping purposes. David Yassky's phone number is: 718-875-5200 or 212-788-7348. Finally, 3.) contact your local paper and give your opinion.

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