Make Crossing at East 5th Street and Greenwood Avenue Safer!

To:  Bill de Blasio, Jim Brennan, Community Board 7

We, the undersigned residents of Brooklyn, are writing to ask your help in making East 5th Street a safer, healthier and more livable place.

Currently drivers exiting the Prospect Expressway at Exit 5 ignore the stop sign and speed down the block, making it dangerous for everyone, especially children going to Greenwood Playground and the two nearby schools.

Nor is the residential stretch of East 5th Street between Vanderbilt Street and Greenwood Avenue currently protected in any way from the pollution, noise and unsightliness of the Expressway that runs parallel to and level with East 5th Street.

After doing a study of the site, Transportation Alternatives suggested the following changes:

1. Larger and clearer signs indicating that there are schools and a playground by the exit and children crossing. The signage that is there now is inadequate.

2. A raised crosswalk at East 5th and Greenwood Avenue. Raised crosswalks have been proven to slow traffic to appropriate speeds and encourage more drivers to stop and yield to pedestrians. This is not the same thing as a speed bump.

3. The median area along East 5th Street between Vanderbilt Street and Greenwood Avenue should be widened to allow for the planting of a dense screen of evergreen trees to create a planted buffer between the parking lane and the guard rail on the east side of the street. These trees would absorb vehicle emissions, helping to cut down on both air and noise pollution. There is ample room to widen the median to create a green strip along East 5th, while still allowing room for parking on both sides of the street and unimpaired traffic flow.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Make Crossing at East 5th Street and Greenwood Avenue Safer! Petition to Bill de Blasio, Jim Brennan, Community Board 7 was created by and written by Kryssa Schemmerling (kryssa@earthlink.net).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.