Brooklyn pols call for a backup traffic plan when the Verrazzano Bridge closes due to high winds or heavy rain.
Photo by Jada Camille
They’re calling for a back-up back-up!
A pair of Bay Ridge pols on Friday urged the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to create a contingency traffic plan for neighborhood streets which often bear the brunt of closures of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
The city often opts to close the bridge when there are high winds, heavy rain, or truck traffic. According to Council Member Justin Brannan and State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Bay Ridge residents are then left to deal with the excess traffic on the residential roads, leaving cars and MTA buses gridlocked for hours.
Brannan and Gounardes said they want to work with the MTA to create a plan to better prepare southern Brooklyn roads for these closures and ensure safety for drivers and pedestrians.
“Frustrated drivers who were driving up on the sidewalk, which is never acceptable to have cars driving on the wrong way down the street,” Brannan said. “This affects not just the average driver or pedestrian but it affects first responders who are trying to get around.”
During the bridge’s most recent shutdown last week, an MTA bus full of passengers had to wait for over an hour to be let back on the bridge. Gounardes said this is one of the reasons why the neighborhood needs “comprehensive solutions.”
“We talk a lot about how we prioritize public transit in our city. Here’s a great example of how. Busses literally could not go anywhere,” Gounardes said. “There was no plan in place to give them, the group with the greatest number of people, access over this bridge.”
The pols were joined by locals, like Community Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann and Ridge resident Jay Brown, in calling on the MTA to develop a plan that would help them in case of bridge closures.
Brown was caught in last week’s traffic scuffle, and told press…
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