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Traffic light installed on Forest Parkway

By Alex Davidson

After eight years of hard work and cooperation with the city's transportation and traffic agencies, local officials' persistence finally paid off with the installation of a traffic light at Oak Ridge on the Forest Parkway in Forest Park.

The light will apply to two-way traffic along the thoroughfare used by area residents who want to get onto the Jackie Robinson Expressway from Woodhaven Boulevard, said Mary Ann Carey, district manager for Community Board 9. She said the road is very dangerous and serious accidents had prompted the board to act.

“This has been something that the community and community board have been working on for years,” Carey said of the project that was approved several years ago but stalled in the construction phase. “It took such a long time for us to get this.”

Carey said attempts to erect a light were held back because the city objected to putting a light at the site where a traffic island divided two-way traffic. She said a recent agreement with city Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe removed the obstacles and helped pave the way for the traffic signal.

Alan Borock, director of signal engineering and street lining for the city Department of Transportation, said the signal project was approved after his agency was able to “normalize” the intersection by making the streets connect at 90-degree angles. He said the project eventually involved multiple city agencies because a light had to be installed and the intersection had to be reconstructed.

“It really became a mini capital project,” said Borock of the project that includes DOT engineers and the city Department of Design and Construction. “We just had to change the geometry at the site to make things easier.”

Carey said the board had previously cooperated with the city DOT and Parks & Recreation to increase signage at Oak Ridge and change the speed limit to discourage speeding drivers and try to increase safer driving conditions. These efforts, however, did not completely solve the problem, she said.

DOT spokeswoman Lisi de Bourbon said the city agency performed a traffic study at the site before giving its approval for any construction on a traffic light.

Eric Adolfsen, spokesman for the city Parks Department, said the agency believes the stoplight is a welcome addition to the park and fulfills a need to increase car and pedestrian safety on the thoroughfare.

“We're very enthusiastic about the project,” he said. “It will make that part of Forest Park even safer.”

Carey said the new light on the two-way street will slow down speeding cars, decrease traffic accidents and allow people to more safely cross the road, Carey said. She added that city officials will paint a crosswalk on the street once construction of the light is completed sometime in June.

Reach reporter Alex Davidson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.