Congress Street Crosswalk

We love our Columbia Waterfront neighborhood. We are close to playgrounds, schools, and Brooklyn Bridge Park. We have friendly neighbors who know each other and stop to chat on sidewalks and stoops. We share our streets with tourists and visitors. We are families, senior citizens, and working folks.

But living on the "other side" of the BQE means that there are limited places to cross back east, over the BQE and towards the subway, grocery stores, banks, and other necessities.

Congress Street is one of the few streets that provides access between the east and west sides of the BQE--for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles alike. It's also the closest street to the BQE's speedy Atlantic Avenue exit. Unfortunately, this street is difficult and dangerous to cross. Cars rarely yield to pedestrians using the marked crosswalk bridging southbound Hicks Street. Neighbors share horror stories of near misses between cars and toddlers, dogs, or bicyclists. We alert new residents to cross Congress instead: Here, pedestrians can clearly see oncoming traffic and pace their crossing. Drivers can clearly see pedestrians moving into the street.

Let's help drivers and pedestrians navigate this poorly designed intersection by painting a temporary crosswalk!

1. Buy paint.

2. Paint crosswalk

It just makes good sense to have pedestrians cross safely here. While there is a marked crosswalk forcing pedestrians across Hicks instead of across Congress, there are many problems with the current pedestrian pathway.

(1) The tiny patch of sidewalk on the south side of this intersection is never shoveled or salted in winter. It's a notorious slipping hazard. And yet, the only existing crosswalk leads to this dangerous patch of sidewalk.

(2) Pedestrians can't see vehicles speeding around this corner. The problem is aggravated when the pedestrian heads eastbound across Hicks. The walker needs to walk backwards to watch traffic.

(3) Vehicles don't know there is a crosswalk, and speed through this right turn down Hicks. A marked crosswalk on Congress would provide an obvious visual signal that pedestrians will be present.

(4) Pedestrians already cross Congress without a marked crosswalk, as neighborhood wisdom seems to confirm that this is the safest path to get across. It would help vehicles and pedestrians cooperate more easily if the space were marked.