Various government officials have expressed concern about conditions on Skillman Avenue, and support for our efforts and the DOT’s plans to make the avenue safer. Early in our campaign, neighbor David Rosasco contacted Councilmember Eric Gioia’s office, and his staff has contacted the DOT on our behalf and kept in touch about our efforts. Neighbor Ann Eagan contacted Community Board Chair Joe Conley, and he has also been working in support of safety improvements.

I have also been in touch with Assemblymember Cathy Nolan, a customer of mine. I made the argument that congestion pricing would reduce the number of vehicles using Skillman Avenue, making it easier for the DOT to make improvements. Cathy was not persuaded by my reasoning, but she did hear my concerns about safety, and passed them on to DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan in the following letter:

In reply, Cathy received a letter from the Commissioner, promising that the DOT would look for ways to make the avenue safer:

Since Cathy did not advocate for congestion pricing, she may be trying to prove me wrong by managing to make the avenue safer without it. In this case, I would love to be proven wrong.

On April 3 I attended the monthly meeting of Community Board 2. Commissioner McCarthy spoke briefly about the light timing change, and there was discussion of the proposals to change Barnett Avenue to one-way and install speed humps on the side streets.

CB2 member Al Volpe confirmed what we heard from John Millus: it’s now almost impossible to drive faster than 20 miles per hour without running a red light. In gratitude for this important safety step, the Board and attendees gave a round of applause to Commissioner McCarthy and her staff, and to Board Chair Joe Conley and our neighbor Ann Eagan for their work on bringing the issue to DOT’s attention.

It was very heartening to see such a large number of people come out to speak in favor of safer streets. Unfortunately, they were not able to unite and accomplish their goals: the Board voted to table the Barnett Avenue question and only recommend speed humps on 46th Street. There were several residents of 39th Avenue who were afraid that traffic would be diverted from Barnett to their street, and no one made much of an effort to reassure them. Joe Conley reported that he had received several emails in opposition to both the Barnett Avenue plan and the speed humps. On the way to the meeting I encountered two residents of 46th Street that I knew, who had come specifically to speak against the Barnett Avenue plan. The Board voted to recommend speed humps on 46th Street because one resident went door-to-door and got 80% of her neighbors to sign a petition in favor.

The lessons are clear: if there’s a project you really care about, get support from your neighbors, show up to speak in favor of it, and find ways to assuage any concerns your neighbors might have. In particular, the notion of induced demand could have used a lot more airing there. I’ll try to write something about it soon for future use.

During my three minutes of fame, I mentioned how happy I was to see so many pedestrian safety advocates in the neighborhood, but how I was disappointed to see that they were not united. I suggested a neighborhood pedestrian safety workshop, where a street safety expert could present an overview of the various tools available for safety improvements, and then people from the neighborhood could take a few minutes to talk about their problem areas. The expert would then give suggestions about ways to make those areas safer, and the neighbors could react to those suggestions. This would provide a low-pressure context for people to work together to find solutions and resolve conflicts.

I was very pleased when, right after I suggested this, Joe Conley quietly said, “Okay, we’ll set that up.” I’ve asked him to keep me informed about the dates so that I can pass them on to you.

I just got a letter from Maura McCarthy, Queens Borough Commissioner for the DOT. Here’s what it says:

Dear Mr. Grieve-Smith:

This is in reply to your January 24th letter regarding traffic conditions on both Skillman and 43rd Avenues.

We have evaluated conditions on these arteries and will implement a signal timing plan that we expect will enhance pedestrian safety and discourage motorists from speeding. At each signalized intersection additional time will be provided for pedestrians to cross both Skillman and 43rd Avenues and the design speed of the progressive signal pattern will be reduced to 20 mph.

Thank you for your interest in this matter.

Sincerely, Maura McCarthy, Queens Borough Commissioner

Of course I’d still like to see a lot more done, but this is a great start! Let’s all thank Commissioner McCarthy and her staff for taking the time to study our avenue and implement these changes. Thanks also to Amy and Will from T.A., and everyone else who’s helped out!