DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Drivers will no longer be allowed to make a left turn from the Manhattan Bridge onto Concord Street at all hours after residents protested what they called a safety risk for the community.
Starting next month, drivers will only be able to turn left from the bridge onto Concord Street between 3 and 7 p.m. on weekdays, according to the city’s Department of Transportation.
The DOT opened up the left turn to 24-hour traffic in October following a recommendation from Community Board 2, but the board reversed its decision in December after residents complained the changes were wreaking havoc on their quiet residential street.
Residents of Bridge Plaza — the neighborhood bordered by Flatbush Avenue and Tillary, Prince and Nassau streets — said they were pleased with the DOT’s decision, but that there is still work to be done to make the intersection safer.
“Obviously the preference was for them to eliminate it totally, but this is a step in the right direction,” Bridge Plaza resident Juan Salazar said.
Salazar said community members now want the DOT to ban trucks and other commercial vehicles from making the left turn at all hours onto the residential street that includes entrances to two school buildings, a playground, a community garden and a CitiBike station.
He said the new time frame for the left turn still disrupts the 6 p.m. dismissal at Brooklyn International High School, which is located at that intersection.
Although the DOT said it has already installed a sign that reads "No Left Turn for Trucks Except Local Deliveries," Salazar said too many trucks still make the turn.
“The problem is that trucks and buses, which make up the bulk of the traffic, are still allowed to make the turn,” Salazar said. “What we want is a ban on trucks and buses on the left turn.”
In an email sent Monday, Bridge Plaza residents also requested the DOT lower the speed limit on Concord Street to 20 mph, add pedestrian crosswalks to Duffield and Concord streets, replace a faded crosswalk at Concord and Bridge streets, add street lighting at Concord and Bridge streets, reduce the time of the left turn signal onto Concord Street, and add school crossing markings to Concord Street.
Along with limiting the hours of the left turn, the DOT said it will be implementing other safety measures at the intersection of Concord Street and the Manhattan Bridge.
Street markings will convert the left turn lane into a moving lane, and a third lane would flare out to become the left turn lane on Concord Street that would be open from 3 to 7 p.m. on weekdays, a DOT spokeswoman said. The DOT will also add lane barriers and limit the time that the left turn signal is active.
The DOT will be working with the NYPD to make the changes, the spokeswoman said.
