7 reasons to close Silver Lake Park Road (letter to the editor)

Silver Lake Park Road should be closed to cars because:

1. Both Prospect Park and Central Park have had assaults, but their interior roads are still closed to cars. 
2. Cars do drive off the road. The sidewalk along the curvy park road has no barriers to protect the pedestrians.
3. Many people use the road to do laps on their bikes or rollerblades. There is no park on the North Shore that allows such.
4. The closed road offers needed space to distance dogs and bikers from walkers due to the sidewalk being narrow and bordered tightly by the road and fencing.
5. The time it takes to drive around the park versus through the park is negligible. During peak hours it’s 5 minutes longer. The difference is not worth reopening the road, sacrificing public space.
6. Traffic is negatively impacted on both Forest Avenue and Victory Boulevard during rush hours when traffic has to wait for drivers to make their left turn onto the park road. 
7. Other boroughs have converted roads into car-free spaces. Why is our road now open 24/7 instead of closed on the weekends like before?

(Debra Butera is a Stapleton resident.)

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