E-Fax to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz:

Subject:

Dear Borough President Markowitz,

At Thursday, March 29's Community Board 6 Transportation Committee meeting, the NYC Department of Transportation presented a plan to improve pedestrian, bicyclist and motorist safety on 9th Street, and the committee voted four to two to recommend that the full Community Board support the safety plan. Since then, over 150 Community Board 6 residents and businesses have faxed the Board in support of this plan. And, Matheo Pisciotta and Ben Hoen, the owners of Dizzy's Diner, who led the neighborhood to call on the DOT to make 9th Street safe, also support the DOT's plan. I'm writing to you today to echo the broad support for this commonsense plan and to urge you to support it too. CrashStat.org shows clearly that 9th Street has some of the highest rates of pedestrian injuries in all of Park Slope. In the summer of 2005, after a car crashed into the front door of Dizzy's Diner on 8th Avenue and 9th Street, 1,200 neighborhood residents signed a petition asking DOT to do something about this problem. I believe the plan that the DOT presented to the Board on on March 29th is an appropriate response to this serious community concern. The DOT's plan offers many benefits. By putting 9th Street on a "road diet," the plan will improve safety for walkers, bikers, drivers and passengers of all ages and abilities. This proven and effective traffic calming measure will slow speeding drivers and better organize traffic, reducing swerving. It will make left-turns easier for drivers and safer for pedestrians. It will allow traffic to flow more smoothly without promoting speeding while giving cyclists a safe space to ride along this important bike route linking Central Brooklyn to the waterfront. Thanks to your support, the DOT made similar changes on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights, and they resulted in a safer, more livable street that better serves the community's needs. Ninth Street is a planned route in the City's official Bicycle Master Plan, and striping bike lanes here and implementing this portion of the plan will make this already popular bike route safe for the great number of people who ride there each day. The City Departments of Health, Transportation and Police's recent joint study on 200+ bicyclist fatalities that occurred over the last ten years found that only one cyclist death occurred in a marked bike lane. The bike lanes will also make useful connections to the 3rd Avenue, 5th Avenue and Red Hook bike lanes, making cycling more convenient for the many Park Slopers who already ride or want to start. In sum, please register my support for the DOT's plan to make 9th Street safer for walkers, bikers, drivers, bus riders, residents and businesses. I urge you to support this plan. Sincerely,