More news about the Albee Square area this morning. The Brooklyn Eagle reports that one block of DeKalb Avenue at the Fulton Mall will be shut down to traffic to make way for walkers instead. The strip of street will be joined to an existing island, to make a bigger public plaza. "The design of this plaza — to include new street furniture, new lighting, new trees and the submerging of what is now an above-ground subway vent structure — has been approved at all levels, including Community Board 2 and, more recently, the NYC Arts Commission," they write. The DOT convened a meeting on the subject last night, as closing the streets and altering the square "requires changes to the transportation element." Fulton Street is narrow, with two-way traffic; DeKalb, Bond and Gold, which surround the area, are all one-ways. “There are no traffic signals, cars must yield to pedestrians or force their way through pedestrians, and there are no crosswalks for pedestrians heading east on the north side of Fulton," said a rep from the MTA. "Under the new configuration, traffic on DeKalb will turn south on Bond, turn west onto Fulton and then north onto Gold. Vehicles traveling north on Bond will continue to jog west on Fulton then turn north on Gold — but now there will be traffic signals at Gold and Fulton." This is just one facet of a $12.5 million plaza and street reconstruction along the Fulton Mall.
Block of DeKalb Will Close For Larger Public Square [Brooklyn Eagle]
Rendering from the Brooklyn Eagle.
