And you thought you had the perfect shortcut.
Ha!
Drivers exulted when the city in its infinite wisdom decided to re-open Silver Lake Park Road to motorists.
The roadway had been closed for a couple of years thanks to a COVID mandate from Mayor Bill de Blasio.
But out of nowhere the road was re-opened earlier this year as a safety measure after a woman was sexually assaulted in the park.
We still haven’t figured out how having the road open without a doubt makes the park safer, but whatever.
Drivers were darn happy to have Silver Lake Park Road back, even though the roadway remains closed for recreation on weekends and holidays.
Silver Lake Park Road provides a shortcut between Forest Avenue and Victory Boulevard.
It allows cars to avoid the intersection of Forest and Victory, which can get busy during the morning and evening rushes, and also during school-dismissal time.
Pretty much all the time, in other words.
So, score a rare win for drivers from notoriously anti-car City of New York, right?
Well, not exactly.
Because the city Department of Transportation just couldn’t leave well enough alone by simply re-opening the road.
The DOT simply can’t countenance any road that doesn’t have some kind of “traffic calming” device on it. They just can’t help but assert themselves.
And Silver Lake Park Road has proven to be no exception.
Not too long ago, the DOT installed not one but two speed bumps on the road.
Yes, people sometimes drive a bit fast on Silver Lake Park Road, even though the roadway’s twisty-turny layout at least somewhat blunts the ability to truly put the pedal to the metal.
But it’s simply not believable that the road in such a short time has proven to be so dangerous that the DOT had to install some safety measures in order to stop the mayhem.
We haven’t even gone through a full calendar year with the road newly open yet. We haven’t gone through the cold, snow and ice of winter.
But we know without a doubt that drivers need to be slowed down? We know we have to have speed bumps?
Please.
Sure, some hardy folks still bike and jog on the roadway now that it’s open, but they are by far the exception to the rule.
And there is pretty much no cause to cross the roadway except at Forest and at Victory, where there are traffic lights (or unless you want to grab a stray golf ball from the roadway).
Not that this wasn’t utterly predictable. This is from a column I wrote back in April about the road re-opening: “The move is also going to shove all the parkgoers back up onto the too-narrow path that runs alongside Silver Lake Park Road. Inconvenient, yes, and also potentially unsafe when cyclists are added to the mix. Until they install some bike lanes on Silver Lake Park Road, that is. And a speed camera. And speed bumps. Careful what you ask for, drivers.”
Don’t call it the Department of Transportation. Call it “The Department for Slowing Traffic Down.” That’s all that the DOT seems to do anymore.
When that speed camera goes up and the bike lane goes in, remember where you heard it first.
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