Slow down, Brooklyn!
Lower speed limits on two of Brooklyn’s most dangerous streets kicked in Tuesday, with the maximum legal speed dropping from 30 to 25 miles-per-hour along Third and Hamilton avenues, officials said.
The Department of Transportation announced on Twitter that it instituted the new limits along a 2.3 mile stretch of Third Avenue, between Prospect Avenue and 62nd Street, where cars fatally struck six people in 2019, compared with two people throughout all of 2018.
As of today, the speed limit on 3rd and Hamilton Aves has been lowered from 30 to 25 MPH.
3rd Ave was Brooklyn's most dangerous street in 2019, but lowering the speed limit, along with strong enforcement, will help calm traffic in Gowanus, Red Hook & Sunset Park. pic.twitter.com/NtHmMclVcu
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) January 21, 2020
The agency also made the change to a 1.9 mile span of Hamilton Avenue, between Luquer and 18th streets, and the tweaks will calm the roads connecting several neighborhoods, the department’s chief said last month.
“We believe that lowering the speed limit along Third and Hamilton avenues, coupled with strong enforcement, will help calm traffic in the burgeoning neighborhoods of Gowanus, Red Hook, and Sunset Park,” said Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the changes in December, adding that the city will also increase police enforcement along the corridors.
The transportation department also plans to add speed cameras at 60 school zones every month this year as a result of a state law that took effect in July allowing for up to 750 school zones to be monitored for speeding.
This past year was particularly deadly for Brooklyn cyclists and pedestrians, with traffic fatalities increasing for the first time since de Blasio launched his Vision Zero initiative in 2014.
Motorists fatally struck 29 cyclists citywide in 2019, including 18 in Brooklyn — compared with 10 citywide, and two in Brooklyn, throughout 2018.
Some 117 pedestrians died in traffic during that time, compared with 115 the year before, while motorcyclist deaths dropped from 40 last year to 25 across the five boroughs during that time period.
