I found this confusing pairing of signage on the northbound leg of Hamilton Avenue at Henry Street a few years ago. Apparently the Department of Transportation must have heard from local constituents or realized that the pairing seemingly made no sense. However, it does when you use “traffic logic.”
The bigger sign is straightforward and is meant for traffic in motion, and indicates that traffic is to stop at a painted white line crossing the street at this point. That line is just blow the bottom perspective of this photograph. In this temporary arrangement, a streetlamp is attached to the stoplight; it was later removed without a replacement.
The smaller red sign is meant for any motorist who may want to stop, or stand, at the intersection for more than a traffic light cycle; the sign is supposed to prohibit such a move. The “keep intersection clear” sign reinforces that point.
By 2022, the DOT had removed all three signs, but in practice, all should still apply.
Red Hook is effectively cut off from Carroll Gardens by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. A lengthy pedestrian bridge, which I have used frequently, spans the undefended border between the two neighborhoods.
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8/16/23
4 comments
Out here in the burbs I have seen in quite a few places a STOP sign on the same post as NO STOPPING ANYTIME. A driver can’t win.
“But officer I’m stopped right now, not anytime.”
In the late 50s, mostly along the teen Avenues near Borough Park, there were few traffic lights on the busier business/bus streets.
There were signs on some of the alternate corners (those without traffic lights) which read – to the effect – Stop Here on Red Signal.
Related, how many “right turns on red permitted” signs are there in New York City? Bonus points if there are any “left turns on red permitted” signs, though I’ve never seen one (left turns on red permitted from a one way street to another one way street.)
There are intersections on Cross Bay Blvd. in Broad Channel that are signed to allow left turns on red after stop. (2-way to 2-way) The side streets are lightly traveled so these signs seem sensible. However, I have never seen such signs anywhere else.