Mayor promises traffic agent to alleviate Clinton-Grand traffic jam

At tonight’s District One town hall with Councilmember Margaret Chin and Mayor de Blasio, the Mayor pledged to dispatch a traffic agent to the Clinton-Grand intersection to alleviate the problems of pedestrian safety, congestion, and incessant honking while a Department of Transportation traffic study gets underway on this over-used approach to the Williamsburg Bridge.

Last night’s action was prompted by a question at the Town Hall by East River cooperator Tommy Loeb, representing Grand Street Democrats at the town hall. The Mayor, Steve Hellman from NYPD’s 7th Precinct, and DOT commissioner Polly Trottenberg all agreed with Tommy’s suggestion.

This troubled intersection has been the focus of a local petition that now has almost 600 signatures and a letter from local representatives urging the DOT to study the issue.

The traffic issue at Grand & Clinton — resulting in grid lock all the way east on Grand Street, with cars honking and jockeying for position — has a been a problem for years. In 2012 the street patterns were changed to alleviate congestion on Delancey that had resulted in serious pedestrian accidents. Since then, Grand Street residents have been saying that Clinton Street was never designed to be a major approach to the Williamsburg Bridge, which is what it has become. With Essex Crossing construction, the problem has become more acute and is likely to get worse.

Pressure needs to be maintained on city officials and local representatives to make sure this problem finally gets solved.