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BP Urges City to 'Fast Track' Safety Changes Following Fatal Brooklyn Crash

 Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Council Member Robert Cornegy urged the DOT to make improvements to Atlantic and Fourth avenues in a press conference on Tuesday.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Council Member Robert Cornegy urged the DOT to make improvements to Atlantic and Fourth avenues in a press conference on Tuesday.
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DNAinfo/Rachel Holliday Smith

BROOKLYN — The day after a car crash left a bicyclist dead at one of the borough’s busiest intersections, the borough president called on the city to make the area safer.

Three people were hurt and a biker was killed Monday after an SUV veered into another car where Flatbush, Fourth and Atlantic avenues meet in front of the Barclays Center.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams — who rode his bicycle from Brooklyn Borough Hall to the site of the crash on Tuesday to raise awareness to bike riders — called on the DOT to “fast track” any traffic safety measures they have in mind for the area as part of the mayor’s Vision Zero initiative.

“Vision Zero is not a slogan. It is a mandate that we allow all to utilize our roadways in a safe fashion. The days of vehicles [being] the only traffic on our roadways are over,” he said, wearing a white bike helmet and holding a piece of one of the cars involved in Monday's crash.

According to NYPD data, the two intersections involved in Monday’s crash — Atlantic and Fourth avenues, and Flatbush and Atlantic avenues — are the two most dangerous in the borough, with 36 car crashes each.

Adams said the DOT has analyzed traffic patterns at the intersections as part of a larger investigation of the borough’s most unsafe areas under Vision Zero, but he urged the agency to make the three-way crossing a priority for improvements.

“We are calling on the Department of Transportation to fast track these changes,” he said.

In response, the agency said it's "taking a close look at this challenging and complex area to provide safety enhancements for all users," said spokeswoman Gloria Chin, adding the DOT is "already hard at work on our project to transform 4th Avenue into a Vision Zero Great Street."

The DOT also emphasized the improvements in pedestrian safety already made at the intersection in the last decade, during which time the agency has "aggressively reengineered the neighborhood for safety."

Following improvements the agency made on 4th Avenue from Atlantic Avenue to 15th Street in 2013, pedestrian injuries have decreased 61 percent and total crashes have dropped by 20 percent along that stretch when compared to the three years before the changes were made, the DOT said.