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Give Your Input on Redesign of Plaza in Dangerous Intersection at Barclays

By Leslie Albrecht | January 26, 2016 2:27pm
 Police at the scene after a 78-year-old woman was hit and killed by a dump truck near Atlantic and Flatbush avenues in October 2014. The DOT is planning a redesign of Times Plaza, the pedestrian plaza to the left in this photo.
Police at the scene after a 78-year-old woman was hit and killed by a dump truck near Atlantic and Flatbush avenues in October 2014. The DOT is planning a redesign of Times Plaza, the pedestrian plaza to the left in this photo.
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RLJR News

PARK SLOPE — A pedestrian plaza in a road junction considered one of Brooklyn's most dangerous is about to get a makeover — and the city wants your thoughts.

The Department of Transportation will host a public workshop Wednesday night on the redesign of Times Plaza, where Flatbush, Atlantic and Fourth avenues meet between Atlantic Terminal and the Barclays Center.

DOT's goal is to transform the pedestrian island into "an enhanced, permanent public space," according to a flier about the meeting.

The plaza, where pedestrians wait before crossing a sea of traffic, is in a crash-prone area that saw more than 150 accidents over seven months in 2015.

The intersections that flank the plaza — Atlantic and Fourth and Flatbush and Atlantic — were the two most dangerous in the borough during that period, with 36 crashes each.

The meeting flier also refers to "plans to create safer streets," but it wasn't immediately clear how DOT plans to improve safety in the area. The DOT did not respond to a request for comment.

► RELATED: Elderly Woman Struck and Killed by Dump Truck Near Barclays Center

► RELATED: MAP: Area Around Barclays Center Had 150 Car Crashes

► RELATED: Barclays Center Crash Kills 1 Cyclist and Injures 3, Officials Say

"It's a perennial trouble spot," said Grace Freedman, co-chair of the Park Slope Civic Council's Forth on Fourth Committee, which works to improve Fourth Avenue.

"We really need to look at the safety and pedestrian friendliness of this area. We'd like it to be well-lit and inviting and a crossroads that connects the neighborhoods, rather than just being about the cars."

Freedman said she's hoping for a good turnout at Wednesday's meeting because Times Plaza's future affects not only Park Slope, but Fort Greene, Boerum Hill and Prospect Heights.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s been designed with the idea of how many people flow through the area,” she said.

The tiny plaza was enlarged in 2012, prior to the opening of the Barclays Center. The expansion was required under the state-ordered traffic mitigation plan that was part of the development agreement with Forest City Ratner Companies, which built the arena.

The state unveiled more plans to improve the pint-sized plaza in 2014.

The DOT meeting on the redesign of Times Plaza is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the YWCA Brooklyn, 30 Third Ave. (near State Street.)