Two intersections along City Island Avenue, at Pell Place and at Schofield Street, will have ‘daylighting’ done at their corners to increase visibility for motorists making turns from the streets onto the avenue and vice versa.
A NYC Department of Transportation spokeswoman said that DOT received and approved the two requests for daylighting, and that work at the two intersections should be complete by the end of July.
“Daylighting is a common safety enhancement that opens up sight lines for both pedestrians and motorists,” said the DOT spokeswoman. “Please note only parking adjacent to the crosswalk is removed during this treatment.”
John Doyle, one of the founding members of City Island Rising on behalf of the new organization, made the request for the changes.
Doyle said that a family member of his and a friend, one living on Schofield Street and the other on Pell Place, brought it to his attention that they were having difficulties seeing oncoming traffic at City Island Avenue because cars were parking too close to both intersections. “I felt that it was easy to put in a request, and DOT handled this in a very timely manner, which I appreciate,” said Doyle.
Barbara Dolensek, City Island Civic Association vice president, said she understood why some islanders and DOT might want to experiment with daylighting.
“On some of the streets, you cannot go to an intersection where there is a traffic light, so you can only nose out into traffic,” said Dolensek.
Despite good intentions, Dolensek said that no parking or no standing areas at intersections could prove to be sticking point because they reduce parking.
“I think there is going to be backlash with the parking,” said Dolensek.
Doyle acknowledged the parking concern, but said that with the visibility situation, he believes residents may be willing to accept solutions they might have not accepted previously.
