In case you didn’t see this last week in the papers or the blogs, Here
is City Council Member David Yassky and Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries’ proposed Traffic Mitigation Plan. Much of this was presented to the
Empire State Development Corporation in August.
ATLANTIC YARDS TRAFFIC MITIGATION PLAN
Improve Traffic Flow on Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues
• Traffic at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic
Avenue should be completely reconfigured to improve traffic flow in the
area. This could be achieved by:
1) Constructing a below grade traffic tunnel on Fifth or Sixth
Avenues running from Flatbush to north of Atlantic Avenue. This tunnel
would become the primary means for north and southbound traffic to
cross Atlantic Avenue.
2) Creating a Park Avenue style overpass.
3) Building a traffic circle at the intersection of Flatbush, Atlantic and Fourth Avenue similar to the Grand Army Plaza rotary.• Design the arena so that all loading and unloading of trucks takes place off-street.
• Implement a bus rapid transit program on Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues, to dramatically speed up bus traffic on both roads.
• Reduce toll at Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to divert traffic away
from downtown Brooklyn and Atlantic Yards vicinity where commuters take
advantage of the free bridges. 2002 data for inbound and outbound
traffic to Manhattan per day is as follows:
1) Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel traffic to Manhattan was 32,219, outbound was 23,960.
2) Brooklyn Bridge traffic to Manhattan was 61,210, outbound was 59,935.
3) Manhattan Bridge traffic to Manhattan was 30,924, outbound was 35,196.
These results seem to indicate that drivers take the Brooklyn
Bridge instead of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. Cutting the toll through
the tunnel could alleviate this trend, according to traffic engineer
Carolyn Konhiem.Encourage Mass Transit, Bike and Pedestrian Friendly Options
• Require the arena operator to include an LIRR, MTA or ferry ticket with each ticket to an arena event.
• Require the Nets to provide free ferry service from an
appropriate location in New Jersey to a new terminal at Atlantic Avenue
to accommodate fans from New Jersey. Free shuttle bus service should be
available from the ferry terminal to the arena.
• All New York City Transit #5 trains should go to Brooklyn during
game days to increase transit ridership. Currently it only goes to
Brooklyn during rush hour.• Set parking cost at a premium to discourage people from driving to the arena for arena events.
• A large bike parking facility should be built into the arena
site. Local residents could use the facility free of charge daily and
on game days the facility would accommodate cyclists attending games.
The plan currently calls for 400 bike parking spaces in the arena, but
no details on the plan are provided. There needs to be an assurance
that this will actually be built, and the lanes should be a combination
of short-term and long-term parking facilities.
• The 400 bike parking spaces planned for the arena will be
unusable because no one will be able to get to them due to the lack of
bicycle infrastructure in the area. For example, bike lanes on Bergen
and Dean need to be protected from ‘displaced traffic due to
project-related changes’ (wording from the EIS), and new public lanes
must be created.
• In project area, readjust traffic lights to give more time for pedestrians to cross the street in all directions.Protect Neighborhood Access to Parking
• Implement a residential parking permit program in the neighborhoods surrounding the arena.
• Environmentally friendly shuttle buses should be used to link off
site parking with the arena. Currently, all off site parking planned is
within a half mile radius of the arena. The parking available in this
radius will not be sufficient on game day.Community Advisory Task Force
• A community advisory task force should be created to oversee
and have input on every stage of the Atlantic Yards Project
development. The group should meet regularly and should represent a
sampling of residents from all of the affected areas in community
boards 2, 6 and 8.
GAP should not be the model for a traffic circle. There are much better ones in the UK & New england to look at, don’t use a partially reconfigured trolley turnaround as the model!
Jim, if traffic increases at the tunnel, the cars have to come from somewhere — those cars are going to come from the bridges, the only other place cars can enter Manhattan. Congestion pricing is certainly a legitimate alternative, but there is no political will in place to enact such a system (for the record, Yassky has not come out against congestion pricing, unlike many other outer-borough council members: http://therealestate.observer.com/2007/03/fidlers-preemptive-strike-against-congestion-pricing.html). You have decided that mudslinging is the best way to address someone who is trying to better our transportation systems — if you instead engage in conversation, it would help avoid disasters like the traffic mire at Flatbush and Atlantic.
David Yassky is perhaps the biggest idiot ever to grace our presence on the city council. Reducing tolls at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel will not reduce traffic at the free bridges. It will only increase traffic at the tunnel. We need sensible congestion pricing. London has instituted it quite successfully.