To The Editor:
I mostly agree with Lou Powsner’s letter, “More Traffic Controls” and would like to add to his list of DOT delays and broken promises.
In 2005, I asked them to remove the “No Left Turn” restriction from Emmons Avenue into East 19th Street. They declined “for safety reasons.” However, they allow a left turn from East 19th Street onto Emmons Avenue, which is much more dangerous.
The restriction ensures that the one block public street is used exclusively as a means to enter, or exit, from the El Greco and Lundy’s parking lots. Its removal would facilitate the left turn from Emmons Avenue to Ocean Avenue, which is usually backed up especially during the summers.
An alternative would be to provide a dual left turn lane at that location which they would not do, claiming three receiving lanes are necessary for a dual left turn lane.
I asked the borough commissioner at the time if that was the case. Why did they put in a dual left turn lane at Ocean Parkway and the Belt Parkway westbound service road which only has a single receiving lane, and is very dangerous?
They assured me a second receiving lane would be marked in the spring when they renew their lane markings. Several springs have passed and there still is only one receiving lane.
Five years ago, I responded to a DOT survey, indicating a half dozen hazards along Woodhaven Boulevard that need to be corrected, and they all still exist. Drive northbound on the Gowanus in the left lane at night, especially in a rain, and all you see is the glare of oncoming headlights. It is impossible to see where the gray Jersey barrier ends and the gray roadway begins since the side of the road is not marked with either a white or yellow line, as it should be.
Lane markings are worn out, merges aren’t clear and many times there are at least eight roadway lampposts in a row that are non-functioning, and not fixed for months or years; a sure recipe for disaster.
They will not remove the universally despised bicycle lane on Oriental Boulevard which requires you to break the law by crossing the zebra stripes in order to park legally, when the lane is much more suited for Shore Boulevard one or two blocks to the north. That has a dual sidewalk, one of which could be converted to a safer off-street bicycle lane.
Yet, DOT always cites safety, or budgetary reasons, for why it will not make a change. It seems that safety is the last thing on their mind, not the first.
Allan Rosen
Manhattan Beach
