After several accidents at 78th Avenue and 64th Place in Glendale, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is looking at the feasibility of installing a speed camera in the area.
Christina Sovereign, president of the Liberty Park Home Owners Association (LPHOA), said that there have been at least eight car accidents at the dangerous Glendale intersection over a six-month span dating back to last year.
“There’s a tremendous amount of traffic that goes through that road because it’s people doing everything they can to avoid Cooper Avenue,” Sovereign said. “So everyone parks on the sidewalks because you have a bus going through there and it’s two-way traffic. People are always scraping the sides of the cars and it’s always backed up.”
Sovereign says LPHOA requested traffic changes at 78th Avenue; however, the DOT denied the request, with a spokesperson stating that the data collected on 78th Avenue doesn’t meet federal standards to warrant stop signs or stoplights.
She also said many residents living near Liberty Park had shown concern due to the alarming amount of traffic in that area.
Last year, the DOT conducted a walkthrough of the area, which led to them approving a four-way traffic stop sign at Cooper Avenue to help ease traffic congestion at 61st Street and 62nd Street.
“There was a big project that we accomplished on Cooper Avenue — 61st Street and 62nd Street. We got four-way stop signs put there, which changed everyone’s life. And that was Liberty Park homeowners who spearheaded that,” Sovereign said.
The group is hoping the DOT will conduct another walkthrough of 78th Avenue.
“We’re continuing to ask for something to be done,” Sovereign says. “I think it just takes persistence to work with the DOT. They have not a large amount of staff for a huge borough.”
A DOT spokesperson told QNS that they are looking into the feasibility of possible mobile speed camera deployment at this location.
