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Barclays Center Transportation Plan Revealed
We’ve tried to pull together all the coverage from media outlets that pertains to the release of last night’s traffic plan for the Barclays Center, as can be seen in the links below. Here are the main points, as we understand them:
1. “You’ll want to think twice, or maybe even a third time, before deciding to drive to Barclays Arena when it opens on September 28. The parking plan for Barclays is being cut from 1,000 to 541 spots”. -WNYC
2. “The conundrum that Samuel I. Schwartz, the traffic engineering expert, faced was this: How could the already jam-packed streets in the heart of Brooklyn accommodate thousands of extra cars filled with fans traveling to a basketball arena and desperately searching for parking? His answer, revealed on Tuesday to a panel of Brooklyn officials with all the flourish and detail of a general planning to storm the beaches of Normandy, was to discourage driving entirely, by cutting the number of parking spaces at the Barclays Center in half.” -NY Times
3. “While the MTA and LIRR will add transit service after Barclays Center events to encourage use of the adjacent transit hub, and arena operators are trying hard to educated and encourrage event-goers to use such transit, the long-delayed Transportation Demand Management plan released today by developer Forest City Ratner still left arena neighbors worried.” -AY Report
4. “Those residents learned that the city won’t be granting their request for residential parking permits any time soon. The New York City Department of Transportation’s Christopher Hrones said his agency is still studying the issue…He added that even if the city were to approve a parking permit program, it would need permission from the state, and that takes time.” – Transportation Nation
And there you have it: Public transportation will be promoted, there will be far fewer parking spaces than initially anticipated, and no residential parking permits anytime soon.
Traffic Plan for a Brooklyn Arena Cuts Parking Slots by Half [NY Times]
Live Blogging: Barclays Center Traffic Mitigation Plan Public Meeting [Patch]
Barclays Fouls Out on Plan to Provide MetroCards [NY Post]
In Plan For Barclays Center, Parking Slashed By Half [WNYC]
Arena Transportation Plan Released [AY Report]
Meeting on TDM Plan is Cordial, Constructive, and Frustrating [AY Report]
05/23/2012 9:00 AM
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Barclays Center Signage Now Underground
A reader sent in the photo above, as well as the following note: “I noticed this on my commute in this morning — It looks as if some of the new “Barclays Center” signs are up and uncovered — at least at the far end of the Q/B platform at Atlantic Avenue (or I guess I should say Atlantic Ave / Barclays Center). It looks as if the signs are up for the length of the platform, but the rest are covered.”
05/16/2012 11:51 AM
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The Nostrand Avenue Reconstruction Takes Off
Yesterday the Department of Design and Construction’s massive project to reconstruct Nostrand Avenue from Flushing to Atlantic Avenue, and Empire Boulevard to Farragut Road, began. As Bed Stuy Patch noted last week, “The total project will cost $23,508,884; take place Mondays through Fridays, from 7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.; last 2 ½ years (concluding in fall 2014); and will be administered in three phases: Phase I: Nostrand Ave between Greene and Flushing; Phase 2: Nostrand Ave between Atlantic and Halsey; and Phase 3: Nostrand Ave between Halsey and Greene Ave.” After all is said and done, Nostrand Avenue will have the Select Bus Service; major roadway reconstruction; new pedestrian ramps, curbs, and sidewalks; the installation of a water main; as well as new traffic lights, trees, tree pits and lighting. Here’s a DOT presentation with more details on the SBS as it pertains to Nostrand Avenue. And here’s a DDC notice outlining what to expect and where to address any concerns.
Nostrand Avenue Readies for Repair [Bed Stuy Patch]
05/15/2012 2:40 PM
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Barclays Center Makes it to the Map
The Post reports that “Barclays Center” has been added to the online version of the subway map, as one can see above. Here’s the back story, from the Post:
The transit hub — which connects to the under-construction arena set to open in September and serves nine subway lines plus the LIRR — was revised online to “Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center” as part of the agency’s first naming-rights deal approved in 2009. Printed subway maps and station signage won’t be updated until the summer, said officials yesterday. Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner has agreed to pay the MTA $200,000 over 20 years for the name change.
Meanwhile, Atlantic Yards Report weighs in on the name change, calling it “sloppy”: “Well, the MTA was a wee bit sloppy. After all, the subway hub is known as Atlantic Av/Pacific St. The entrance to the N/R/D lines running along Fourth Avenue originally had both names, as indicated in the screenshot from a May 2011 map, below. By that logic, the station along those lines should be renamed Pacific St-Barclays Center. Was the MTA so concerned about getting the arena mentioned that they’d mislead straphangers?”
We don’t know if any of this really qualifies as news, but the $200,000 over 20 years stat does jump out. UPDATE: The Post did not make it clear that it is $200,000 a year over 20 years for the naming rights.
MTA Updates Subway Maps to Include Barclays Center [NY Post]
Sloppy! MTA Updates Subway Maps to Include Barclays Center–and Excises Pacific Street [AY Report]
05/15/2012 9:00 AM
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City Studies Big Traffic Changes for 20th Street
Via a resident of the South Slope, we hear the following: “The residents of 20th st. have been lobbying CB7 and DOT for years. DOT finally did a study…and is unveiling it to the community on 5/30. It’s going to be a big deal, both pro and con, as it reroutes trucks onto 7th ave (along several schools and the off/on ramps to the Prospect Expressway iif the want to head west to the Gowanus Expressway via Prospect Ave. There’s also the change of direction on 21st. St. 20th St. will become one way eastbound.” Click through to see the full study that the city will be presenting to Community Board 7 on May 30th. (more…)
05/14/2012 10:30 AM
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Uncool Bicyclist Behavior, or Not?
A reader sent in the pic above, as well as the following note: “At around 9:30 p.m. last night, a woman came on to the 4 train I was riding heading into Brooklyn from Manhattan. She got on in Downtown Manhattan, had a bicycle with her, and she propped it in front of one of the doors and would only move it slightly to let people on and off at various stops. A woman sitting across from her told her she was giving all bicyclists a bad name by blocking the door, and requested that she move back to the Midwest or West Coast.” If you see something, say something, we suppose. We did not actually witness this incident, so we cannot vouch for its veracity, but while we’re generally pro-bicycle, we do think certain rules of etiquette should apply to bicyclists, non-bicyclists, motorists, and others who come into contact with bikers.
05/04/2012 10:00 AM
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MTA Bringing Big Upgrades to Jay Street Substation
The MTA is rehabbing the Jay Street Substation at 212 Jay Street and building a new circuit breaker house next door for the A/C/F lines. Work on the existing structure, according to this project plan, “includes site preparation; exterior brick work; installation of roof walking pads; replacement of doors, frames, windows, guardrails and pipe railings; new emergency exit; repair of exterior/interior cracks,” among other upgrades. The new circuit breaker house is going in adjacent to 212 Jay Street and will have an upgraded power system and new control system for the subway lines. Work on the $34.6 million project should wrap in the first quarter of next year. GMAP
05/02/2012 2:40 PM
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All Hail a New Era for Livery Cabs
Yesterday the Taxi and Limousine Commission voted to approve new rules that will allow people to hail livery cabs from the street legally, as opposed to calling and reserving one in advance. From the Times article on the vote: “It was far from a smooth journey to the commission’s vote, with the latest obstacle on Wednesday, when the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, a lobbying group, sued the commission, seeking an injunction to block the rules. The lawsuit argues that the new rules violate the rights of yellow taxi medallion owners and drivers paying for the legally protected, ‘exclusive’ right to pick up street hails. Many details of the new livery cars, including what uniform color they will be, have yet to be decided, but commission officials were confident the details would be sorted out quickly.” The commission will issue up to 18,000 medallions for car service vehicles over the next three years, according to the story, but it will also allow for the sale of up to 6,000 licenses to begin this summer. The Wall Street Journal notes the following: “The livery licenses are set to sell for about $1,500 each. Yellow-cab medallions have sold for $1 million or more.”
Angering Taxi Drivers, Panel Adopts Plan on Hailing Livery Cabs [NY Times]
Taxis Given Green Light [WSJ]
Photo by bitchcakesny
04/20/2012 9:00 AM
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Soul-Destroying B61 Bus Line Will Get Real-Time Tracking
Overdue. Today pols sent out an press release saying that the B61 will get the “BusTime System.” From the release: “Council Member Brad Lander, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez and Council Member Sara M. González cheered the announcement by the MTA that the B61 will be the second bus in Brooklyn to get BusTime — a system that provides real-time bus arrival and location information. The MTA has committed to installing BusTime on the B61 no later than June 2012. The system uses GPS devices on buses which let transit riders use their cell phones and computers to find out where the next buses to arrive on a route actually are. The MTA first implemented this system in 2011 on the B63 bus which runs along Fifth and Atlantic Avenues in Brooklyn and recently expanded it in Staten Island. The elected officials restated their hopes that the next steps in improving this often delayed line would be more frequent bus service and “countdown clocks” at bus stops similar to those currently in use in some subway stations.” In November Lander’s office released a report saying that only 43 percent of B61 buses come within 1 to 3 minutes of when they’re scheduled to arrive during peak hours, and a whopping 42 percent of northbound buses skip the stop at Columbia and Union streets between 8 and 9 a.m. because they’re too full.
Report: B61 is Often Late and Way Too Crowded [Brownstoner]
Photo by diacritical
04/12/2012 12:00 PM
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MTA: G Train is Packing Them In
The Eagle takes a look at the latest MTA ridership stats, and notices that there has been a marked rise in G train users: “The Brooklyn sections of the G and J/M/Z lines both showed a jump in ridership from 2010 — both up by close to 6 percent. While these lines only account for one-fifth of all entries into the Brooklyn subways, the increase in ridership was substantial.” The reporter also talks to an MTA rep, who says that the increase in G train ridership has been particularly noteworthy. Still and all, it’s unclear whether this will have bearing on whether the train will continue to run on an extended route into the Slope, Windsor Terrace and Kensington that has been in effect for a couple of years during the Culver Viaduct rehab work. The Eagle notes: “Ridership data does show spikes in use along the temporarily extended section of the G line — the stops at Fourth Avenute/Ninth Street and Church Avenue avenue both saw an increase in ridership nearly four times the system average from the year before. Both are heavy bus transfer points.” Many politicians are making noise about the train’s extension being made permanent.
New MTA Data Shows Spike in G Train Riders [Eagle]
Photo by bitchcakesny
04/12/2012 9:30 AM
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New C Trains Coming, But It Will Take Four Years
The C Train, consistently ranked the worst line running through Brooklyn, will get a major upgrade from the MTA in four years time. According to this WYNC article, “The MTA is buying 300 subway cars to replace equipment on the C line that’s nearing 50 years of age.” The cars will feature digitized voice announcements, an energy-saving braking system, and brighter lights and signs. The MTA set the completion date for the $600 million project in 2016. Whaddya think, C Train riders, can you wait another four years?
New Subway Cars Expected…In 4 Years [WNYC]
Photo by cn998899
03/29/2012 2:40 PM
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More Muscle Behind Fight to Save G Train Extension
On Friday Public Advocate Bill de Blasio announced that he had created a G Train 5-Stop Fan Club on Facebook to try to convince the MTA to retain the G line’s extension. The extension, which began in 2009 along with the Culver Viaduct rehab work, started serving five extra stations in Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Kensington. Before that, the line terminated at Smith-9th. Capital New York quoted the public advocate’s statement about the creation of the fan page: “These extra five stops are a lifeline that Brooklyn residents and small businesses have come to depend on,” said de Blasio, who is running for mayor in 2013. …Ending this service will have a profound effect on the community and the mom and pop stores along these five stops. I encourage every New Yorker who wants to see the G train service preserved to join the 5 Stop Fan Club and let your voices be heard.” The Working Families Party also has an online petition residents can sign to try to save the extension.
Bill de Blasio Jumps on the G-Train Issue [Capital NY]
G Train Issue Gains Momentum [Eagle]
G Train 5-Stop Fan Club [Facebook]
03/19/2012 9:30 AM
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Bummer: Smith-9th Station Reopening Delayed
Here’s today’s not-shocking news regarding an MTA project’s delays, via Patch: The reopening of the Smith-Ninth Street F and G subway station, which was slated for the end of this month, will be delayed until fall 2012, according to the MTA and Craig Hammerman, the district manager of Community Board 6. ‘The consolation is that they’re not really taking anything new away, the area has gone without it for some time—although I’m sure riders will view it differently,’ Hammerman said at a CB 6 meeting on Wednesday night.” The station closed last June as part of work on the Culver Viaduct rehab project and was supposed to reopen sometime this month. Sucks for Red Hook residents and folks who live in southern Carroll Gardens.
Smith and Ninth Street Subway Station Opening Derailed! [Patch]
03/16/2012 12:00 PM
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Dumbo Residents Outraged by ‘Dangerous’ B25 Bus Route
A couple days ago the Brooklyn Paper ran a story about how Dumbo residents are extremely unhappy with how the B25 bus is routed through their neighborhood on Main Street, causing traffic jams and delays as “one or more buses get stuck between…delivery trucks and cars — creating a din of perpetual honking and screeching tires.” On top of that, folks who live in the neighborhood say the perpetual pileups make for dangerous pedestrian conditions. On the jump, we’re printing a series of letters that Dumbo residents have sent to elected officials and the MTA asking them to reroute the bus. Many express frustration with state Sen. Daniel Squadron’s lack of action on the issue. One of the letters, from Ethan Goldman, says the following, in part: “Main Street is simply not big enough to service this sort of constant, never-ending daily bus traffic, and there is no reason that it should be used as a ‘turn-around’ by the MTA. It is extremely dangerous, and it is a terrible and unsustainable traffic-flow situation. I have seen fist-fights and incidences of road rage.” Goldman also has the following to say about some possible MTA perfidy that’s in the works:
“The other part of this story is that DOT is planning major changes over at Old Fulton Street (without getting any Dumbo input) which is going to make this situation much worse (see attached). The bus used to run split between Old Fulton as a turnaround, and Main St. as a turnaround (it was terrible even then). But now that they are creating an unnecessary ‘plaza’ (right outside where Pete’s used to be and stretching all the way up to Front Street), they are making it so the bus can never use Old Fulton again. That means 150 buses a day (with no passengers) will no other access options and will permanently have to come into Dumbo. We have been trying to get MTA, DOT and Senator Squadron to help re-route the bus for a very long time with no luck.”
Update: A rep from Squadron’s office says that following a town hall meeting that the state senator organized with the MTA and DOT at the end of October the MTA committed to looking at three additional routes for the B25. However, the authority wants some sort of consensus between the many neighborhoods that would be affected by the bus being rerouted, since it also serves neighborhoods such as Fulton Ferry, Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights. Squadron’s office is trying to organize another meeting to try to gain consensus between the various neighborhood groups that would be impacted by the rerouting.
Click through to read the letters from Dumbo residents about how they’re fighting to get the B25 rerouted. (more…)
03/14/2012 12:00 PM
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4th Avenue is Not All That Pedestrian Friendly
In news that is unlikely to surprise anyone who has had to traverse 4th Avenue on foot in recent years, the thoroughfare has been named one of the most dangerous roadways for pedestrians, according to a report from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign that Patch reported on. The avenue ties Eastern Parkway and Avenue U for third place as the most dangerous stretch for pedestrians in Brooklyn, with four pedestrian fatalities between 2008 and 2010. Still, Atlantic Avenue, Kings Highway, Brighton Beach Avenue and Ocean Parkway all saw more pedestrian fatalities between 2008 and 2010 than 4th Avenue. What makes the news about 4th Avenue a bit more intriguing is that it has been in the midst of a transformation into a residential enclave, with hundreds of units of housing constructed on the Park Slope stretch of the avenue following a rezoning several years ago. It has been a major traffic artery for a long time, but the question now is whether the cars and new residents can peacefully coexist.
Fourth Ave Tied for Third Most Dangerous Road in Brooklyn for Peds [Patch]
Photo by Violette79
03/13/2012 9:30 AM
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Several Neighborhoods Mull Slow Zones
The Eagle has an article this morning about how a number of Brooklyn neighborhoods are interested in implementing slow zones—where the maximum speed that cars are allowed to go is 20 miles per hour, and measures like speed bumps are also put into place—on their streets. Those neighborhoods include Park Slope, Greenpoint, Prospect Heights, Boerum Hill and Brooklyn Heights, and residents in those areas are eager to see slow zones on the majority of streets. The story notes that big thoroughfares like Flatbush and 4th Avenue wouldn’t be included in the zones. The new regulations are meant to reduce pedestrian injuries. They would theoretically deter some drivers from using streets in residential neighborhoods and instead keep them on highways and other high-traffic roadways. The DOT is going to decide where slow zones will be implemented later this month.
Brooklyn Neighborhoods Tell City: ‘Speed Kills! Slow Down the Traffic’ [Eagle]
Photo by cerambycidae
03/07/2012 9:00 AM
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Closing Bell: Save the G Train Extension!
The effort to save the G train extension into Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, and Kensington got plenty of coverage today. Williamsburg District Leader Lincoln Restler started the campaign yesterday and it’s already gained more than 1,000 signatures. The extension happened in 2009, allowing residents of Red Hook, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Kensington to hop over to Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Queens without going into Manhattan. District Leader Restler tells us: “While the MTA has been increasing fares and cutting services – especially bus lines like the B69 that connect Brooklyn neighborhoods – the G train extension has been a single bright spot. Considering the economic benefits of the G train extension and the modest costs associated for the MTA, I cannot understand why they will not confirm their intentions to make the G train extension permanent.”
Photo by Haruko16
03/06/2012 4:00 PM
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Slope Group Looks to Improve 4th Avenue
Over the past several months a few different initiatives have launched to address quality-of-life issues on 4th Avenue, and now another group, Forth on Fourth Avenue, or FOFA, joins the fray. FOFA was established as a Park Slope Civic Council committee earlier this month and is now focusing on several projects, including blocking the establishment of a drive-thru at the McDonald’s coming to the old KFC space on Warren; piloting a project between Bergen and Degraw to focus on street greening; and looking for ways to encourage “good neighbors” by sponsoring clean-ups and tree-planting initiatives. The committee meets the second Tuesday of every month 8 a.m. at the Brooklyn Lyceum, if you’re interested.
Forth on Fourth Becomes Newest Civic Council Committee [PSCC]
03/01/2012 9:30 AM
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Closing Bell: ‘The G Train’s a Jerk’
Does the “G” stand for “gross”? Some compelling evidence at the 1-minute mark here suggests that the answer is “yes.”
The G Train’s a Jerk [Romio/Youtube]
01/30/2012 4:00 PM
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deancollins
May 21, 2012 | 02:16 PM