VINEGAR HILL — Residents of the Farragut Houses will now be able to get between the public housing complex’s 10 buildings safely with the addition of a new pedestrian crossing and a wider median on Gold Street, the city said.
The Department of Transportation on Wednesday unveiled the new traffic-calming measures on the street — which is ranked in the top 10 percent of the most dangerous streets in the borough — between York and Sands streets.
The street design features a new pedestrian crossing on Gold Street, halfway between York and Sands streets, that will make it easier for residents to move between Farragut Houses buildings.
“They can cross the street without jaywalking,” DOT Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Keith Bray said.
The DOT has also widened the center median from 3 to 8 feet, removing a lane of vehicular traffic in each direction. Instead of two lanes each going north and south, there is now one each.
The new configuration now matches Gold Street’s blocks to the north and south of York and Sands streets, which also have just one lane of traffic in each direction.
The design also includes 21 new parking spaces on the west side of the Gold Street median for overnight and weekend parking.
Gold Street before the safety improvements. (Credit: DOT)
The new design will deter speeding on Gold Street, officials said.
“This was a speedway, and the reality is that there’s no need for any driver to be using any of our city streets like here on Gold Street as a racetrack,” Councilman Stephen Levin said.
Gold Street is ranked in the top 10 percent of the most dangerous streets in Brooklyn, according to the DOT.
Since 2009, there have been 238 traffic-related injuries and one fatality along the street, according to DOT data.
The goal is to lower those numbers to zero, in accordance with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero plan, said Sean Quinn, the DOT’s Director of Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs.
