franklin st. traffic
For those of us that endured The Great Franklin Street Devastation of 2005 (and 2006), we watched as they turned Franklin St. one way, turned Banker St. two-way, reversed the direction of Calyer St. between West and Franklin, etc.
Franklin between Calyer and Greenpoint went two-way not long after paving was finished in December or January, but the rest of Franklin was still a DMZ. Then, that was paved, and earlier this week, while having dinner at Brooklyn Label, we realized that section of Franklin was now two-way. This was coupled with pink signs all over the other end of Franklin advertising that Calyer between West & Franklin would soon be reversed (and it is now, as of this writing).
Two elements remain to be seen: one is whether Banker St. goes one-way again (I hope not), and the other I don’t want to happen just yet so I’ll wait to see what happens on that front (and no I’m not going to blog about it). In terms of quality of life for Greenpoint residents, I’m in favor of Banker St. staying two-way; it certainly eliminated needless block-circling, which decreases traffic and noise. The Calyer St. reversal is also positive, because it, combined with Franklin St. being two-way for its entire length, will decrease traffic and noise on the block. I don’t know if Franklin St.’s gotten quieter since I moved in (for a while, trucks were certainly avoiding the mogul field that was Kent Ave.), or if I’m just used to the truck noise by now. I’m just glad there are no more jackhammers outside my window, digging giant holes:
