DOT to install safety measures on Ocean Parkway
Officials respond to community petition drive
The Kensington community spoke and the New York State Department of Transportation listened. That’s how elected officials and civic leaders described it after the state agency finally signed off on a city plan to install a pedestrian island and other features to make the intersection of Ocean Parkway and Church Avenue safer to cross on foot.
The New York City Dept. of Transportation developed a plan several months ago at the behest of Councilman Brad Lander (D-Park Slope-Kensington) and community leaders who charged that there were too many accidents occurring at the intersection. But because Ocean Parkway is a state roadway (the Prospect Expressway runs along Ocean Parkway for a portion of its route), State DOT had to approve the plan before the safety measures could be installed.
Lander expressed concern that State DOT was dragging its feet on the plan. He and a group of community residents and transportation advocates visited Governor Andrew Cuomo’s midtown Manhattan office last week to hand-deliver petitions calling on Cuomo to light a fire under State DOT and get officials to move.