During June, the New York City DOT held its "wrap-up" meeting for its downtown Brooklyn traffic calming study. At the meeting, DOT announced it would not implement any of the suggestions from the six-year investigation. The $6 million traffic calming project, funded by federal anti-pollution grants, was first announced in 1998 and lauded as an innovation pilot program.

The study has its faults. For example, it falls short of establishing methods to implement the street hierarchy defined in the report. It also fails to identify traffic reduction as a main goal of the study. Nevertheless, the report is a step in the right direction. For example, it does suggest modest infrastructure improvements (such as medians on Flatbush Ave) and creating bike lanes throughout the area.

DOT’s announcement infuriated transit advocates and community groups, who have long fought for more pedestrian friendly streets in BK. Transportation Alternatives said, "DOT’s announcement, constant foot dragging and closed-mindedness are insults to the groups and citizenry who have sunk countless hours into attending meetings and preparing written comments, all as an effort to make their neighborhoods better places."

Unfortunately, DOT’s inaction is consistent with the agency’s gradual retreat over the past decade from a stance that at one point (the last two years of the Dinkins Administration) promised a robust traffic calming program and general change in philosophy about shoehorning as much traffic as possible through the city’s commercial and residential districts. NYC DOT now seems largely back to the mid-20^th Century traffic engineering mold.

The collapse of the BK traffic calming effort coupled with future increases in traffic from development in the area, perhaps spurred by the pending rezoning of downtown Brooklyn, will ensure that neighborhoods such as Brooklyn Heights, Ft. Greene, Boerum Hill, and Red Hook will only see worse conditions in the future.

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