WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES NOVEMBER 16, 2017 3
Glendale group pushes for more speed bumps and stop signs
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
Residents of the Liberty Park section
of Glendale are calling on the
NYC Department of Transportation
(DOT) to install speed bumps and
stop signs as the agency continues its
safety improvement project in the area.
As part of the Cypress Hills safety
improvement project, Jason Banrey, the
DOT Queens deputy borough commissioner,
informed residents at the Liberty
Park Homeowners Association meeting
on Monday, Nov. 13, that the left turn going
northbound on Cypress Hills Street
onto 78th Avenue will be permanently
banned as a way to curtail the amount
of cars traveling on the street.
“One of the things we got support
from the community when it was
approved in the spring time was a permanent
left -turn ban at 78th Avenue,”
he said. “That was something that a lot
of folks felt would help with a lot of the
cut troughs that we see.”
Currently, the signage at the intersection
says that northbound left
turns are banned between 7 and 9 a.m.
Monday through Friday.
Banrey emphasized that the entire
Cypress Hills Street safety project is
not yet complete. He noted that there
are still markings to be made, bollards
to be installed, and signs to be changed
before the project is fi nished.
DOT will work with the 104th Precinct
on enforcement in that area to
let drivers know that the left turn at
that intersection is no longer allowed
through a warning period, then a
ticket phase, Banrey added.
Some residents are upset with this
turn ban, stating that they will then
have to travel down to Cooper Avenue
in order to make the left turn to get into
Liberty Park, making it more diffi cult
for them to access their community.
DOT previously suggested converting
78th Avenue to an eastbound-only
one-way street between 65th Street
and Cypress Hills Street, which was
met with disapproval.
Many residents, however, are in
favor of placing stop signs and speed
bumps on some of the streets in order
to prevent motorists from cutting
through their community.
In order to emphasize the need
for speed calming measures along
78th Avenue, Liberty Park resident
Tyler Polhemus presented his own
traffi c study at Cypress Hills Street
and 78th Avenue which he conducted
on Oct. 31 during the times when the
left turn is banned. He found 249 cars
making the illegal left turn. He also
discovered that there were a total
of 32 reported car accidents over a
three-year period, according to the
NYPD Collision Database.
Polhemus also went around and
measured the space between the corners
and the fi rst curb cuts on each
block along 78th Avenue between
Cypress Hills Street and 62nd Avenue.
He found that the spaces between the
corners and the fi rst curb cuts were
larger than the space between the corners
and curb cuts along 80th Avenue
— where there are two speed bumps at
80th Road and 62nd Street.
Banrey said that DOT is not opposed
to going back into the neighborhood
and again examining the need for both
stop signs and speed bumps, since the
criteria for these features has changed
since the last time the community was
denied their requests.
Photo: Anthony Giudice/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
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