Rally for a stop sign on Center Blvd and 48th Avenue, which was later installed
Jan. 30, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer is taking to the streets to demand increased street safety in Hunters Point.
Van Bramer is holding a rally to call on the Department of Transportation to install a stop sign at the intersection of 5th Street and 51st Avenue in Long Island City at 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.
The intersection is near PS 78 and the Hunters Point Community Middle School, and Van Bramer said he has heard concerns from parents about the traffic there for years, though his office did not have any concrete statistics on how many accidents there had been at the intersection.
Van Bramer has requested that the DOT take action in the past, and upon hearing “no” again, decided to be more forceful.
At the rally tomorrow, Van Bramer will address the importance of street safety, and then erect a “people’s stop sign,” to demonstrate how easily one could be installed at the intersection.
However, the DOT said that it had completed a study for a stop sign at the intersection in December and its data indicated that it wasn’t needed.
The DOT added that it has taken several measures to improve safety in the Hunters Point area. This included converting 5th Street between 50th Avenue and 46th Road into a one-way southbound, installing a stop sign at 47th Avenue and adding two speed bumps to this stretch in the summer of 2014.
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17 Comments
hey JVB how come you aren’t doing anything about Woodside and Sunnyside and this is your area too — we are the forgotten souls only to your convenience I gather –
Slightly off topic, but do all the police and other cars parked on the sidewalks of 50th street really irritate anyone else?
Welcome to the neighborhood.
It’s totally ridiculous. In multiple ways. First, half the time they pull up so close that barely one person can fit between a vehicle and the buildings. They also destroy the sidewalks in the process. Then, if you are driving, the cars are so close together in the street, you barely fit a Mini between them let alone a normal size vehicle. And, to top it all off, people stream out of the subway there and just walk right across the street without any regard for the stop light or walk signal. Awful stretch of road and sidewalk.
The facility and location is dated. The 108 should be relocated, modernized, expanded for future growth, and planned to meld into a growing city. Take one of those large parcels near Queens Plaza or on Jackson and tie a new facility into it’s development.
We also need not a Stop sign, but a full light at 5th and Borden. It is a blind turn, especially with the paddock for cars in the intersection.
Bad intersection. It’s should be right turns only for vehicles traveling south on 5th when they get to Borden. Making the left is dangerous with cars flying down Borden, half turning onto 5th and the other half going straight.
Agreed, that should be a right only, then a loop around the exhaust building to U-turn and go up Borden. Or there should be a stop on Borden approaching 5th.
Another damn rally…
What is the DOT waiting for?! Do they need to see a child to get hit by a car to convince them? Anyone know what could possibly be the reason for denying the stop sign?
“Van Bramer has requested that the DOT take action in the past, and upon hearing “no” again, decided to be more forceful.”
What reason could DOT have for not putting up a sign? The school is right there, all approaching vehicles should come to a complete stop.
While he’s at it with DOT, he should petition them to do something about the intersection on Borden where the LIE entrance is. It’s a mess of a street and can use some traffic control to tame the free for all that exists now.
Basically all the intersections on 5th Street should have stop signs. It’s dangerous how fast cars go through that area with people crossing who assume the cars will stop.
The same goes for Center Blvd, especially with the a**h*** parking valets leaving cars in front of Maiella so pedestrians cannot see cars coming around curves.
Perhaps the people crossing should, ya know, look before they cross the street and realize there is no stop sign or painted crosswalk and not walk into traffic? I’m pretty sure that you wouldn’t just walk out into the street mid block with oncoming traffic on most roads so why do it at the intersection? While stop signs on 5th would make total sense given the terrible sight lines with parked cars (especially cops–or people with fake placards–who park at the corner of 5th and 50th where the no standing sign is) and additional pedestrian traffic with all the new development, currently, there are none, so as a pedestrian, you should stop before aimlessly walking out into the street.
agreed. some dickhead today sped by while a family with children was crossing the street
This is great. Thank you, JVB! We also need a stop sign or redesign for the odd, dangerous intersection at 50th Avenue and Center Blvd. It’s a blind curve that expands into an excessively wide street. The current design encourages speeding and has terrible visibility for pedestrians.
I couldn’t agree more.