BY JESSICA PARKS
City transportation honchos
have agreed to some of
the demands made by Community
Board 10 in reference
to their plan to install neighborhood
loading zones on residential
streets in Bay Ridge
and Dyker Heights.
“We’re happy to work with
residents in Bay Ridge to improve
on our plan and look forward
to installing our Neighborhood
Loading Zones this
spring,” said Vin Barone, a
Department of Transportation
spokesperson. “These
zones will help cut down on
double parking and keep our
travel and bike lanes clear.”
At its February general
meeting, Community Board 10
— which spans Dyker Heights
and Bay Ridge — issued a conditional
approval for the loading
zone plan, which would
bring 31 loading zones, that
can be used as short-term
parking for errands like grocery
COURIER L 14 IFE, MARCH 11-17, 2022
or passenger drop off, to
their residential streets.
The board asked the agency
to make six changes to the plan,
which included rolling in the
new zones incrementally, shortening
active hours on weekdays,
reducing the number of
sites to only one per block, conducting
a public outreach campaign
on the new program,
implementing better signage
and loading zone coloration at
the curb, and releasing a data
feedback report to the board six
months after installation.
The agency reported back
that they will make four of
the requested changes to their
plan, reducing the hours from
7 am to 7 pm to 8 am to 6 pm,
staggering installation of the
loading zones to 10 at a time
starting with 8220 Fort, and
only implementing one per
block, as well as conducting
outreach to the community
and delivery companies.
With the agreement to introduce
one loading zone per
block, the number of loading
zones coming to the neighborhood
will be reduced to 28
spaces, down from the originally
planned 31.
In an effort to further increase
safety within the
board’s parameters, the city
agency said it will also introduce
a raised crosswalk at 66th
Street and Fifth Avenue this
spring. Reps told the board the
new crosswalk will work like
a speed bump, but feature a
fl at top for pedestrians to walk
upon, all the while reducing
vehicle speeds, improving pedestrian
visibility and increasing
accessibility by providing
a level crossing. It will be the
fi rst of its kind in Bay Ridge.
The project stems from a
law enacted by the City Council
in November 2021 mandating
that the city Department of
Residential loading zones in Park Slope early last year were met with
some outrage from neighbors. File photo by Ben Verde
Transportation install 500 residential
or commercial loading
zones across all of the fi ve boroughs.
There are currently 146
zones in place, with another 24
to be installed in Manhattan
by the end of March.
During their active hours,
neighborhood loading zones
can be used for package deliveries
by commercial vehicles,
taxi and car service pick-up
and drop-off and the active
loading and unloading of passenger
vehicles. They will
serve as regular parking spots
outside of active weekday
hours and on the weekends.
Neighborhood loading
zones are being introduced
across the Big Apple with
the goal of preventing double
parking and reducing confl
icts between vehicles, pedestrians
and bicyclists and
create more effi ciency for all
users of city streets.
“Providing dedicated curb
space for these activities during
daytime and evening
hours will help to reduce double
parking as well as other
unwanted standing behaviors,
creating a safer and more
effi cient environment for all
road users,” DOT’s website
states. “The zones aim to
help reduce confl icts between
trucks and cyclists, improve
bus travel times, and better
serve all of the activities that
occur on our city’s streets.”
NOW LOADING!
DOT makes changes to loading zone plan at
request of Bay Ridge community board
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