Southern Clinton Hill residents are being asked to weigh in on two possible street direction changes at a public hearing slated for 6 p.m. Oct. 21 at St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street.
The first proposed change would make the current two-way St. James Place between Atlantic Avenue and Fulton Street into a one-way southbound thoroughfare.
“I think it’s a good thing,” said Sharri Sutton, manager of the Frank White Gallery, a café, gallery and networking space at 936 Atlantic Avenue.
“We’re facing St. James Place so if they [vehicle traffic] do come southbound they will have more of a chance of us seeing us,” she said.
Sutton explained that the way the thoroughfare is currently configured, moving vehicles turn away from the gallery, and with southbound only traffic there will be both better visibility and it would bring traffic closer to the gallery.
“We’re facing north and if there was a stop light it would be even better, but that may be hard because it is a neighborhood,” she said.
Sutton did say, however, that the change could inconvenience some vehicle-owning residents on the block because they may have to drive around the block a few times to find parking.
The two-block thoroughfare currently has both northbound and southbound parking, she said.
The city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) has determined that the move is feasible, but wants the public’s input before making a final determination, according to a DOT spokesperson.
The second change would see the two-way Lefferts Place between Classon and Franklin avenues converted to a one-way eastbound thoroughfare.
The DOT has determined that the change is feasible but recommended that it be implemented only if it includes the entire length of Lefferts Place.
The easternmost block of Lefferts Place is in Community Board 3. However, a CB 3 representative has stated it will defer the matter to Community Board 2, according to the release on the public hearing.
CB 2 District Manager Rob Perris said the St. James Place Block Association requested both changes, along with several other traffic-calming measures some time ago at a CB 2 Transportation Committee meeting.
DOT representatives were there and they looked into it, and decided in favor of some requests and against others, said Perris.
“The traffic pattern changes won’t move forward without the input of the community board,” he said.
A representative from the St. James Place Block Association could not be reached at press time.
