14 AUGUST 9, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
More safety changes eyed for Glendale intersection
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY 6
The Department of Transportation
(DOT) is considering several
changes to the intersection
of Myrtle and Cooper Avenues in
Glendale in response to one concerned
business owner who has the support of
local leaders.
According to an email obtained
by QNS from a DOT offi cial to the
stakeholders in the case, the agency
has launched an investigation to determine
how to best prevent drivers
from cutting through the Mobil gas
station parking lot between Myrtle
and Cooper avenues. The probe fi rst
began in June aft er the owner of the
gas station reached out to elected offi -
cials expressing his frustration.
Assemblyman Mike Miller, who has
been involved in the discussions from
the beginning, explained that the problem
stems from the completion of the
Myrtle-Cooper Plaza in 2017. Although it
was intended to create more pedestrian
space and calm traffi c as part of Mayor
Bill de Blasio’ Vision Zero initiative, the
plaza closed off two small streets at the
east and west sides of the intersection.
This prevented drivers from making
a right turn from westbound
Myrtle Avenue onto eastbound Cooper
Avenue, but some are still driving over
the new sidewalk in front of the gas
station, Miller said.
Miller has been joined by Councilman
Robert Holden, Community Board
5 Chair Vincent Arcuri, District Manager
Gary Giordano, the NYPD and the
Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement
The Mobil gas station at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Cooper Avenue in Glendale.
District at meetings to address the situation.
Miller and Holden said they have
even witnessed the problem fi rsthand
while at the gas station.
“On three separate occasions I almost
got clipped by cars just crossing
through to get to Cooper,” Miller said.
“If that happens to me over a period of
time I can only imagine how many cars
go through there.”
There are two main solutions and
several other related complaints being
investigated by DOT, according to the
email.
The agency is fi rst trying to determine
if it would be feasible to install
bollards along the double-yellow line
on Myrtle Avenue between Cooper
Avenue and 71st Place to prevent eastbound
drivers from illegally turning
left into the gas station, or those exiting
McDonald’s or the Glendale Diner
from pulling out onto westbound
Myrtle Avenue.
The other main consideration is
changing the small section of 71st
Place between Myrtle and Cooper
behind the gas station from a one-way
southbound to a one-way northbound.
Arcuri believes that changing
the direction of 71st Place has the
most promise, he said, while Myrtle
Avenue may be too narrow in that
area to install the bollards. Before the
plaza was built, drivers exiting the
McDonald’s drive through could cross
Myrtle Avenue and turn right onto
Cooper Avenue on the small street
that the plaza replaced. If 71st Place
ran northbound, Arcuri explained,
those drivers would be able to turn
right onto Myrtle Avenue and then
left onto 71st Place to reach Cooper
Avenue.
The DOT is also looking into altering
the signal timing at the lights in
the intersection, moving the stop bar
back on Cooper Avenue outside of the
Photo via Google Maps
McDonald’s parking lot, evaluating
the street lighting around the gas
station, installing “keep intersection
clear” signage at 71st Street and Cooper
Avenue and reinstating the right turn
from westbound Myrtle Avenue onto
eastbound Cooper Avenue, according
to the email.
Holden agreed that changing the
direction of 71st Place would help
alleviate the situation, but added that
the intersection should be restored to
its original state with the small side
street.
“I don’t think it makes it safer for
pedestrians when people are now coming
up onto the sidewalk,” Holden said.
Representatives from DOT are expected
to attend the Aug. 28 meeting
of the Board 5 Transportation and
Public Transit Committees to discuss
the issue further.
The owner of the gas station has not
yet returned a request for comment.
Picnic day for Ridgewood’s Partanna Society
HPhoto courtesy of Tony Mule undreds of members of the Ridgewood-based Societa Concordia Partanna enjoyed a summer day together with a picnic recently held at Juniper Valley
Park in Middle Village. The social organization was founded in 1906 by Italian immigrants in Ridgewood and is named for a town in Sicily.
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