"Shared Space" Presentation - Thursday 9/23/2011

The city's DOT and the RBA Design Group provided a "Shared Space" presentation for the residents of West 11th, 12th and 13th Roads at the V.F.W. Hall yesterday at 7:00 pm prior to the start of the Broad Channel Civic Association's September meeting.

Queens DOT Commissioner, Maura McCarthy, addressed the residents of West 11th, 12th and 13th Roads briefly explaining how the flood mitigation project had evolved from its original, June 2011, concept to the newer "Shared Space" design concept initially proposed to representatives of West 11th, 12th and 13th Roads back in August.

Commissioner McCarthy explained that the new "Shared Space" design effectively addressed the two major concerns of residents regarding the original design concept, encroachments and parking.

1.  The new "Shared Space" design minimizes the impact of individual property owner "encoachments" that would be markedly impacted under the old design, and,

2.  The new "Shared Space" design would allow for parking on both sides of the street with no loss of parking spaces due to the requirement of "bump outs" for relocated utility poles on the old design which still called for curbed strets with sidewalks. Additionally, the "Shared Space" design would forever put to rest the possibility of the involved streets being subjected to a parking on one side of the street only regulation as well as those annoying middle of the night visits by Traffic Enforcement Agents who ticket private vehicles for parking on the sidewalk.

Commisioner McCarthy closed by stating that in Broad Channel, for the most part, "...everybody walks in the street and parks their cars on the sidewalk. You have actually been utilizing the shared space concept as a means of accommodating pedestrians, bicyclists, children and cars on your narrow streets for years!"

Commissioner McCarthy then introduced Mr. Joe Menzer of the RBA Group who spoke briefly of the history of the "Shared Space" concept noting that:

"It is a streets planning concept, pioneered by the late Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman, that
 promotes the reduction of barriers between pedestrians and vehicles, and the elimination of traffic signs and signals. According to shared space advocates, this lack of vehicle direction makes drivers more aware of their surroundings; rather than speeding through a neighborhood, drivers are forced to slow down and be conscious of other vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. If you’re faced with a traffic signal, you don’t have to think anymore. Whether you go depends on whether the light is red or green. In the absence of such things, we’re perfectly capable of reading and understanding the situation so that if grandma’s in the road ahead of you, you don’t run her over."

Mr. Menzer then provided a 20 minute power point presentation displaying exisiting shared space streets in Britain, Spain, and the United States as well as a conceptual drawing of the "Shared Space" design as it would exist on West 12th Road.

Conceptual Design Drawing W12th Road "Shared Space"

The presentation was followed by a lengthy "question and answer" session resulting in the following issues being raised.

ISSUES - Specific

1.  Bollards

"Are bollards necessary?....If I park next to a bollard how do I open my car door?...Bollards may cause damage to my vehicle if I hit them.....Is there an alternative to the use of bollards?"

2.  Trees

"Are trees necessary?....Trees may pose a danger to property during a serious storm or periods of high winds....I already have a utility pole in front of my property, do I have to have a tree outside my house?....Is there a green regulation whereby the city mandates the planting of trees?....Will trees adversely impact the number of parking spaces available on my block?....Can a tree be used to replace a bollard?....Leaves from the trees will clog the center street drainage system...I have solar panels on my house - will the trees impact them?"

4.  Utility Poles

"Can utility poles be used in place of a bollard?...What is the distance between utility poles?..."

5.  Fire Hydrants

"You say that existing fire hydrants will have to moved across the street, I have a driveway directly across from a hydrant, is that a problem?...."

6.  Snow Removal

"With a shared space design how will snow removal be addressed?"

7.  Water Mains

"With the shared space design how will access to my property's water main supply be made?

ISSUES - General 

1.  There appeared to be a general concern among many residents who appeared confused about how the grading of the newly raised street to their property line would transition to the rear of their property.

2.  Another property owner wanted to know if that, once construction started, could he "deal" with the involved vendors to perform work on his property outside the scope of the city contract.

3.  One property owner expressed concern that the entrance to his house is already on "street level" inquiring how that would be addressed with the planned street raising.

4.  Another resident wanted to know how the access cuts in his foundation wall would be affected by the street raising.

Commissioner McCarthy closed the meeting by stating that the "Shared Space" design will proceed for West 12th Road as all residents of that block are "on board" with this new design and that those concerns and issues raised by residents of West 11th and 13th Roads would be addressed at a future meeting.

An informal survey was conducted of all residents of W11th and W13th Roads attending the meeting and, aside from those issues and concerns noted above, there was no opposition to the "Shared Space" design for their blocks.