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City finally has new exit plan for Dyker Heights

Did city ignore bike lane in Gowanus exit fix?
Photo by Ted Levin

The city finally has a plan to fix the mess it made at the Fort Hamilton Parkway exit from the Gowanus Expressway — unveiling a rememdy that includes more pedestrian crossing time, relocating a crosswalk and adding a lane of car traffic to prevent backups.

The latest proposal for the choked intersection of Fort Hamilton Parkway, Seventh Avenue and 78th Street comes after months of outrage from residents near the exit, which has been causing horrific tie ups since last summer, when the Department of Transportation reconfigured the exit in hopes of making it better.

Instead, there have been traffic backups and difficulties for pedestrians, including students at PS 127.

This time, the city thinks it has the solution: The number of traffic movements at the intersection will be reduced from four to three; a barrier will be removed to allow for an extra lane of car traffic; a pedestrian crosswalk will be relocated from the south side of the intersection to the north side; pedestrians will get more crossing time; and a new barrier will be installed to prevent pedestrians from going where they shouldn’t.

According to one city official familiar with the plan, drivers exiting the highway will be able to continue in any direction — heading up Seventh Avenue or Fort Hamilton Parkway, or turning to go over the highway at Bay Ridge Parkway or making a right turn at 78th Street.

However, motorists traveling along the highway service road, the source said, would only have two choices: Continue on Fort Hamilton Parkway heading from the higher to the lower numbered streets, or make a right turn.

The city will present the plan to Community Board 10 next Monday. It’ll be the second time in about a month that agency representatives will be facing the neighborhood. Two weeks ago, the city said it would have a plan, but showed up without one, which didn’t go over well.

Community Board 10 Traffic and Transportation Committee at McKinley JHS [Fort Hamilton Parkway at 73rd Street in Dyker Heights, (718) 745-6827] on May 10 at 7 pm.