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 Friday, December 23, 2011 NYC DOT Announces Completion Of First Phase Of Project To Reconstruct Belt Parkway Bridges New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner (DOT) Janette Sadik-Khan today announced the completion of the first phase of a $365 million contract started in 2009 to reconstruct three significantly deteriorated bridges on the Belt Parkway, which carry 150,000 cars a day through Brooklyn and Queens to John F. Kennedy International Airport and Nassau County to the east and to the Gowanus Expressway and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to the west. Once notorious for their rough condition, the bridges at Paerdegat Basin, Rockaway Parkway and Fresh Creek Basin are the first of seven structures undergoing complete reconstruction. Eastbound traffic this week shifted onto the first of two new parallel structures passing over the Paerdegat Basin. Westbound traffic is scheduled to shift onto the formerly eastbound span on December 28 to permit construction to begin on the parallel structure which is expected to be completed in 2013. In another contract milestone, westbound traffic was shifted onto the new bridge over Rockaway Parkway on December 5. PRESS RELEASE # 11-105 |
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Friday, December 16, 2011 NYC DOT Announces Giveaway of Free Taxi, Livery and Transit Rides During the Holidays New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today announced the return of the “Safe Rides Home” giveaway, with thousands of free taxi, livery and public transit rides home to be distributed from now until New Year’s Eve to encourage New Yorkers to be safe every time they celebrate by planning for a designated driver. This promotion is part of DOT’s “You the Man” campaign, which is designed to curb drinking and driving, reduce traffic crashes and make New York City’s streets even safer. DOT is working with Johnnie Walker to provide 1,500 free debit cards valued at $15 apiece for New Yorkers to use in taxis or at MetroCard or other transit-ticket machines this holiday season. In addition, 4,000 single-ride MetroCards will be distributed citywide as part of the program. Safe Rides Home reminds revelers that New Yorkers can count on friends and family members as designated drivers, as well as the city’s transportation professionals: cab, livery and bus drivers and subway operators. Former NFL quarterback and WFAN morning sports show host Boomer Esiason and Diageo Executive Vice President of Corporate Relations Guy Smith joined Commissioner Sadik-Khan for the giveaway at Times Square. The announcement marks the second year Johnnie Walker’s parent company, Diageo, has partnered with DOT to provide New York residents and visitors a free, safe ride home during the holidays. PRESS RELEASE # 11-104 |
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Thursday, December 8, 2011 NYC DOT Announces Commuter Biking has Doubled in the Last Four Years and Conversion of Parking Meters into Bike Racks to Meet Growing Demand for Bike Parking New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today announced a continued steady increase in commuter bike riding in New York City, with an 8% increase in bike riders counted at commuter locations this year compared to last year’s record number. According to counts of bike riders made at six commuter locations, bike riding has increased 102% compared to 2007 and by 289% compared to 2001. In that time, safety has increased for all street users, with fatalities at their lowest levels in the century that records have been kept, while serious bike injuries and fatalities have remain unchanged despite the near-quadrupling in bike riding. DOT also announced the installation of 175 of the city’s first parking meter bike racks, using an innovative design that allows hoop-shaped bike racks to be securely fastened to former parking meter poles. The City currently is reviewing responses to a Request for Proposals for a vendor to manufacture 6,000 additional racks to be installed at meters citywide to help meet the city’s growing demand for public bike parking. PRESS RELEASE # 11-102 |
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011 NYC DOT Announces City’s First-Ever Curbside Haiku, Innovative Safety Campaign Targeting Traffic Hotspots New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today announced “Curbside Haiku,” a new safety education campaign composed of 216 signs featuring colorful artwork and haikus by artist John Morse installed at a dozen high-crash locations near cultural institutions and schools citywide that draw attention to the critical importance of shared responsibility among all street users to help keep New York City’s streets as safe as they can be. Paid for using a State grant from DWI funds and installed through DOT’s Urban Art Program, the series includes 12 eye-catching designs with accompanying haikus that each deliver a targeted safety message by focusing on one transportation mode. For example, a sign featuring the silhouette of “Walking Man” is paired with the haiku, “Too averse to risk / To chance the lottery, yet / Steps into traffic,” to remind pedestrians to follow and respect traffic safety rules when crossing the street. Half of the signs will be hung in pairs, with the image and haiku text appearing; the remaining set feature an image with a QR code on the sign that lets New Yorkers discover the safety message via their smart phones. The Commissioner and Morse unveiled the new signs at 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue in Manhattan, a Curbside Haiku hub that includes the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Future Leaders Institute school, and is within Community Board 10, a district where nearly 50 crashes a year resulted in a fatality or severe injury from 2006 to 2010. PRESS RELEASE # 11-101 |
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011 NYC DOT Opens Community Plaza in New Lots Triangle, Bringing Public Space to Encourage Foot Traffic, Boost Business New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Council Member Charles Barron and New Lots Avenue Triangle Merchants Association President Eddie Di Benedetto today announced the opening of the New Lots Triangle Plaza, a community requested public space implemented through DOT’s NYC Plaza Program to enhance neighborhood streets and local businesses. The pedestrian triangle was previously surrounded by conflicting and intimidating streams of traffic on Ashford Street and Livonia and New Lots avenues. Requested by the merchants association and supported by Brooklyn Community Board 5’s transportation committee, the initial changes have calmed traffic, reduced pedestrian and vehicle conflicts, created a brighter, larger pedestrian-only public space, eased access to businesses and transit and laid the groundwork for a future capital project to make the plaza permanent. The merchants association is responsible for the 3,800-square-foot plaza’s cleaning and maintenance and hopes to introduce a destination-making green market and other programming at the location. The plaza follows the recent launch of the CityBench program to bring 1,000 benches to make streets more inviting citywide and safety improvements to Grand Army Plaza. PRESS RELEASE # 11-99 |
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Monday, November 21, 2011 NYC DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan, City Officials Announce City’s First Neighborhood Slow Zone, Launch of Program for Communities to Request Slow Zones to Reduce Unsafe Speeds New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today joined Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and City Council Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca (Bronx) to announce the start of the city’s first-ever Neighborhood Slow Zone, in the Claremont neighborhood of the Bronx, reducing the local speed limit from 30 m.p.h. to 20 m.p.h. and adding traffic calming measures to make residential streets even safer and more welcoming for local residents. DOT is also launching a new application process allowing communities to request slow zones in residential areas in all five boroughs at www.nyc.gov/dot. Neighborhood Slow Zones were announced last year as part of the DOT’s landmark Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan to continue to reduce the number and severity of traffic crashes on residential streets following the four safest years in New York City’s history. The Claremont Slow Zone is marked by the city’s first street-flanking, eye-catching blue “gateway” signs that clearly indicate the entrance of the slow zone, and 28 new signs mark the 20 mph speed limit in and around the zone. The zone itself is self-enforcing, with nine new speed bumps installed in addition to the five already installed on streets within the quarter-square-mile zone, and “20 MPH” is being stenciled in eight-foot-high letters at 45 other locations in the zone. The Commissioner was joined by Borough President Diaz, Council Member Vacca and local leaders at the intersection of 167th Street, Vyse Avenue and West Farms Road, one of the 14 gateway entrances to the slow zone. PRESS RELEASE # 11-97 |
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Monday, November 21, 2011 NYC DOT Announces 2011 Holiday Traffic Mitigation Plan The New York City Department of Transportation today announced the 2011 Holiday Traffic Mitigation Plan to encourage mass transit use and address the increased congestion and gridlock that historically occurs from the week before Thanksgiving until after New Year's Day. The Holiday Traffic Plan was developed in coordination with other agencies and includes nine Gridlock Alert Days and an embargo on non-emergency construction through the holiday season. The plan also includes right turn restrictions and temporary adjustments to parking regulations at key locations in Midtown Manhattan to reduce congestion. DOT has notified bus operators of special regulations in effect during the holiday season and reminded them to use designated routes and layover areas to help facilitate traffic flow. PRESS RELEASE # 11-95 |
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Thursday, November 10, 2011 Traffic Advisory: Temporary Full-weekend Closure of Southbound FDR Drive Brooklyn Bridge Ramp The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) advises motorists that the southbound FDR Drive ramp onto the Brooklyn Bridge will be closed this weekend from 11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, until 6 a.m. Monday, Nov. 14, to continue the replacement of the existing concrete deck and the removal of temporary steel joint covers, which was begun two weeks ago but was delayed by inclement weather. The construction is part of the Brooklyn Bridge rehabilitation project, which will improve access to the bridge while renewing an important piece of the city’s infrastructure. Two detours for Brooklyn-bound traffic will be established during the 55-hour continuous closure: Motorists may exit the FDR Drive southbound at the Manhattan Civic Center/Pace University off-ramp (Exit 2), turn left at Pearl Street and right to access the ramp onto the Brooklyn Bridge. Drivers may also continue southbound on the FDR Drive to Exit 1 South Street, make a U-turn at the Whitehall/Staten Island Ferry terminal, and return to the northbound FDR Drive to Exit 2, the Brooklyn-bound ramp onto the Brooklyn Bridge. Alternate routes into Brooklyn also include using the Manhattan Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge. PRESS RELEASE # 11-94 |
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Wednesday, November 9, 2011 NYC DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan Announces Historic Safety Redesign at Grand Army Plaza, Enhancing Access to Prospect Park New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Council Member Letitia James, the Grand Army Plaza Coalition (GAPCo) and the Prospect Park Alliance (PPA) today announced the completion of a historic safety redesign of Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, simplifying traffic patterns while enhancing safety for pedestrians, motorists and bike riders at the gateway to Prospect Park, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Greenmarket. The $1.5 million project was designed in close coordination with local community groups and includes new landscaped pedestrian islands, new crosswalks, a new traffic signal that eliminated a dangerous vehicular conflict on the west side of the plaza and new bicycle routes through the south end of the plaza that connect to nearby bike lanes. Existing pedestrian islands and sidewalks were reconstructed, enlarged and landscaped while existing pedestrian spaces, including Brooklyn’s largest Greenmarket, were enhanced with a crushed gravel surface and protective granite blocks to provide a clear, visible distinction from the roadbed. Rob Witherwax of GAPCo, Emily Lloyd of PPA and representatives of Brooklyn Community Boards 6 and 8 joined Commissioner Sadik-Khan for today’s announcement, held in the newly enhanced public space near the landmark Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch, which is now more accessible and inviting via a wider crosswalk connecting to the plaza space at Prospect Park. PRESS RELEASE # 11-93 |
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Wednesday, November 2, 2011 NYC DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan and Mayor Koch Encourage Active Transportation for New York City Students, Launch Program to Encourage Walking to School New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Mayor Edward I. Koch today hosted a special reading of Eddie Shapes Up, a children’s book written by the mayor, and launched Walk Ways, a new program that helps schools establish the importance of active transportation and gives them the resources to encourage walking among students. Schools can visit nyc.gov/dot to register, download lesson plans and connect with DOT safety educators for guidance and to develop tailored walk-to-school route plans. The Commissioner and Mayor joined fourth and fifth graders from P.S. 64 in Manhattan’s East Village for the event. PRESS RELEASE # 11-91 |
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