Who Gives a Shit: Losing Left Turn Lanes on Fourth Avenue ?

image via Streetblogs.org (sans dead frowny face by moi)

I'm pretty sure everyone knows this already, but last week our very own Community Board 6 voted 18-9 against a proposition to eliminate a substantial number of left-hand turn lanes on Fourth Avenue between Atlantic Avenue and 15 Street. It would appear that Park Slopers are using Fourth Avenue more and more now to avoid traffic snafus around the shit-show traffic that can build up around the Barclay Center especially around event times.

The city is proposing to remove the lanes in order to make the giant thoroughfare more palatable to pedestrians running for their lives between red lights. The CB6 says "no way, bitches" because taking the third turn lane out of the equation would force all vehicles to merge into two lanes hence clogging up traffic by major left hand turns. So says the resolution: “A number of our members were strongly concerned that such a radical change of traffic patterns would detrimentally affect mobility and local access on a neighborhood-wide scale.”

CB6 chairman, Daniel Kummer was quoted by the New York Post as saying: “No one disputes that there are serious traffic and pedestrian safety concerns regarding the Fourth Avenue corridor that must be remedied.”

Ahhh but the question is how?  The resolution passed by CB6 didn't say exactly, but what they did ask was for the city to keep three lanes in each direction and keep at least eight of the left turn lanes slated for removal. According to the New York Post, Park Slope was the only neighborhood to protest the proposed changes which is shocking (read sarcasm). Also community boards really have very little to say in the matter when the rubber hits the road. The city can go right ahead and make the changes anyway. 

But the questions is: do we care? And if we do, what side of the left turn are you on. Sound off FIPSters.