General

CB10 brainstorms speed camera locations

September 11, 2013 Denise Romano

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Members of Community Board 10s Traffic and Transportation Committee brainstormed

about locations where they would like to see speed cameras at a meeting held at the district office on Monday, September 9.

The recommendations come on the heels of new legislation that allows for 20 speed cameras to be installed near schools across the city. That means that each borough will get four cameras, whose locations will rotate. The pilot program kicked off this week and the Department of Transportation is accepting recommendations from residents.

DOT officials will look over the recommendations and determine the best locations for the cameras, based on speeding and crash data.

CB10 came up with six locations for speed cameras. Members identified the locations based on areas where speeding was most rampant and where there is a large concentration of schools.

They are: Ridge Boulevard between 85^th and 86^th Street, Fourth Avenue between 81^st and 82^nd Street, 65^th Street between 11^th and 12^th Avenues, Fourth Avenue between Ovington Avenue and 72^nd Street, Fourth Avenue between 92^nd and 89^th Streets, and Fort Hamilton Parkway between Bay Ridge Parkway and 73^rd Street.

District Manager Josephine Beckmann noted that Fourth Avenue now has a speed clock between 84^th and 85^th Streets, which will hopefully deter drivers from speeding.

Reduction in speed by schools is great, but there is no enforcement, she contended, noting that a speed camera would provide that enforcement.

No matter how many crashes you have, you always have the speeding, contended board member Allen Bortnick. We should deal with that.

Larry Stelter commented that a camera is especially needed on Fourth Avenue near Ovington Avenue, near the new P.S./I.S. 30 and Holy Angels Academy.

I notice people racing up Fourth Avenue by the new school and then [there is] double parking [on the next block], he explained. That would be a good location because they [drivers] think they are going to make the light.

No matter what the data is, we should talk to people who see [speeding] first hand, contended Dean Rasinya. Their opinions should be respected.

The full board will vote to recommend these spots officially to DOT at its monthly meeting to be held on Monday, September 16.