New York City’s Department of Transportation is soliciting feedback on truck routes around the city, an issue that Greenpoint locals are all too familiar with.
“As part of Local Law 171, DOT is gathering public feedback to redesign the Truck Route Network with a focus on enhancing safety, increasing visibility, and reducing traffic congestion while taking into consideration of existing freight travel patterns, major truck traffic generators, and industry trends,” the project’s website reads.
As an industrial neighborhood, Greenpoint sees its fair share of truck traffic (and arguably, more than its fair share, if neighbor feedback on the site already indicates).
The majority of Greenpoint complaints focus on Kingsland Avenue, Monitor Street, Morgan Avenue and Apollo Street, which all run parallel to each other in Greenpoint’s more industrial corridor. In Williamsburg, neighbors seem most concerned with Metropolitan Avenue. For both neighborhoods, users frequently commented on trucks’ tendency to speed, especially on narrow or residential streets.
You have until June 30 to submit a comment. As part of Local Law 171, the DOT will publish a report on their findings on September 15.
The problem is not so much the routes themselves but rather enforcement. The “no thru truck traffic” signs on residential non-truck route streets are ignored hundreds of times each day.
All I can say here is, Manhattan’s Ave’s northern most end has been CLOGGED with huge construction trucks since last summer, it’s like since we have a bit more space up here (because we’re much more residential up here!) they like to use these blocks as staging areas (engines idling, cement truck barrels going) for building (ie the water side developers, obviously), and other trucks (like the fleet of Con Ed trucks currently lining my block from one end to the other, parked along one side of a two way traffic street that has a bus line on it) sit here for hours on end. The bus stop is ALWAYS full with one of these things (delivery truck for the two delis downstairs can’t even get near the curb), so the buses can’t stop here, and traffic is frequently driving into oncoming cuz that’s the only way to get through lately. I’ve let Emily Gallagher’s office (useless) and Lincoln Rester’s office know about this (I think someone at his office is finally giving this issue some attention, although it continues …) but nothing seems to be working in terms of getting all these trucks off the street around here. I thought some law was passed soon after I moved into the area (2020) that prevents them from constantly rolling back and forth on these streets, right near the water, and likely precarious already underneath (flooding, old industrial, etc.)??? It’s going to take an accident of some sort to clean the area out, apparently. City will totally be responsible, since they’ve been told numerous times about it (I’ve got a 311 noise report pages long for documentation) but no one’s enforcing anything around here, lately. The 94th Precinct has very little to do in this neighborhood (since it’s supposedly one of the quietest crime-wise, thank goodness), you’d think they’d concentrate on giving out tix to these behemoth trucks and move them out of the way, and monitor the felon who lives across the street more closely (that’s a whole ‘nother story), but no. Sadly, not a great place to live in recent years …