The pace restrict in Dumbo can be dropped to twenty mph underneath Sammy’s Legislation, town introduced Wednesday.
Picture courtesy of NYC DOT
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The pace restrict in a 0.18 sq. mile slice of Dumbo will drop to twenty mph because the nabe turns into Brooklyn’s first “Regional Slow Zone,” metropolis officers introduced Wednesday.
The slowdown — a results of the passage of Sammy’s Legislation final yr — is supposed to extend visitors security and reduce the severity of crashes, particularly for pedestrians. Within the final 5 years, the small Dumbo sluggish zone has seen 10 extreme crash-related accidents and one demise, in line with the Division of Transportation.
Dumbo’s zone will stretch from east-west from Furman Avenue to Navy and Hudson Streets and north-south from roughly John Avenue to Sands Avenue and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway — although the pace restrict on the BQE itself is not going to be impacted.
A map of Dumbo’s sluggish zone. Picture courtesy of NYC DOT
Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island can even get one sluggish zone every. All 4 — plus one already in impact in decrease Manhattan — had been positioned in areas with excessive pedestrian concentrations and clear geographic boundaries, per DOT.
“Data has shown that a one mile per hour increase in speed results in a nearly three percent increase in mortality,” stated Council Member Lincoln Restler, in an announcement. “I’m pleased that DOT will be implementing Brooklyn’s first Regional Slow Zone in DUMBO — a neighborhood densely crowded with pedestrian foot traffic.”
The brand new pace restrict is not going to be in impact instantly. This spring, DOT will formally notify area people boards of the change – in Dumbo, that’s Brooklyn Neighborhood Board 2 — and there can be a two-month public remark interval earlier than the sluggish zone is formally applied.
Dumbo has seen quite a lot of extreme crash-related accidents within the final 5 years, per DOT. Picture courtesy of Google Maps
A 2011 report from the AAA Basis for Visitors Security discovered that pedestrians are greater than twice as prone to be severely injured by a automotive touring 23 mph than 16 mph. In accordance with the U.S. Division of Transportation, pedestrians have a 90% probability of surviving being hit by a car touring at 20 mph or beneath — however only a 50% probability of surviving being hit at 30 mph.
“Lowering vehicle speed limits by even a few miles per hour could be the difference between life or death in a traffic crash,” stated DOT commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, in an announcement. “Our newest Regional Slow Zones will save lives and protect our most vulnerable New Yorkers in some of our busiest pedestrian communities.”
Slowing down for Sammy’s Legislation
Town applied its first sluggish zone final fall, instantly after Sammy’s Legislation — which allowed town to change its personal pace limits — took impact.
Below Sammy’s Legislation, town additionally lowered pace limits on varied native streets, together with Prospect Park West, the place 12-year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein — for whom the regulation was named — was hit and killed by a driver in 2013.
By the top of 2025, DOT plans to implement the 20 mph pace restrict in additional than 250 places, particularly at school zones and on shared streets, the division stated.
For now, the division doesn’t have designs for added borough Gradual Zones, a DOT spokesperson informed Brooklyn Paper.
Hochul celebrated Sammy’s Legislation with Brooklyn officers and Sammy’s mother and father final spring. Picture courtesy of Susan Watts/Workplace of Governor Kathy Hochul
However some in Brooklyn are already hoping for added zones. In an announcement, Restler stated he “[hopes] this step advances realization of Sammy’s Law and a citywide 20 mph speed limit.”
In February, Brooklyn Neighborhood Board 1 despatched a letter to DOT asking that each one of CB1 — which encompasses Williamsburg and Greenpoint — be made a Regional Gradual Zone.
A separate March 5 letter to DOT, signed by Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and dozens of native organizations, stated CB1 has “the fifth most traffic fatalities and injuries in the borough of Brooklyn,” with hundreds of crashes and 31 deaths within the final 5 years.
In an announcement Wednesday, Reynoso celebrated Sammy’s Legislation, and stated he was “grateful” that DOT applied the coverage in Dumbo.
“While we celebrate this slow zone in DUMBO, we must continue to expand slow zones across this city and prioritize neighborhoods where crash rates are highest, such as North Brooklyn,” he stated.
