Efforts to Reduce Congestion Around Barclays Center Are Not Working, Residents Say
While the city has been trying to help lessen congestion in Boerum Hill, it only seems to make matters worse.
Construction surrounding the Barclays Center has lead to major congestion in Boerum Hill. Although the city has attempted to reduce traffic, residents say it is getting worse, according to The Brooklyn Paper.
In addition to longer green lights, left turn signs have been installed at the intersection of Flatbush and Third Avenue.
There have also been several attempts to direct traffic away from Fourth Avenue in order to reduce congestion at the intersection of Atlantic, Flatbush, and Fourth Avenues.
Residents say this has only lead to more congestion on more streets, specifically on Third Avenue, but also including Pacific Street and Schermerhorn Street, according to the report.
"In order to cross, you really have to weave in and out of traffic," Martha Kamber told The Brooklyn Paper. "It's very messy."
Monty Dean, a representative from the Department of Transportation, said that the DOT "will continue to moniter the area and address any concerns."
While construction is currently the cause of congestion, once the arena is open, traffic issues could get even worse. On Monday, several neighborhood leaders met at Brooklyn Borough Hall to participate in a "transportation working group" surrounding Atlantic Yards.
Some traffic control measures that will be implemented when the arena opens include additional subway service on game nights, free metrocards with online game ticket purchases, and shuttles offering transportation from parking garages.
John Romano
8:36 am on Sunday, December 18, 2011
I have been waiting for some public response to this mess. The closure of 4th Avenue traffic to Flatbush has now not only caused 4th Ave to become a parking lot during the morning rush, but 3rd Avenue is now backed up to 9th Street as early as 6AM. This is wrecking havoc on all of the parallel streets feeding to the bridges. DOT and the borough office have made a grave, long-term error that will destroy the quiet neighborhoods surrounding this insult of a development. Boerum Hill, now Carroll Gardens and even Gowanus will be rush hour nightmares. Thank you Marty, for your vision and foresight.
Michael Brown
9:37 am on Sunday, December 18, 2011
Toll the bridges and it all goes away...
Giacomo
10:29 am on Sunday, December 18, 2011
Make driving illegal for all but the richest 1%. Make living in NYC and Bklyn too cost prohibitive for all but the rich. Continue to subsidize lying, politically connected developers with our tax dollars. Force through irresponsible building projects despite the will of the working class neighborhood, and It all goes away....
Michael Brown
12:51 pm on Sunday, December 18, 2011
The delays and traffic getting over the bridges are caused not by Brooklynites; they're from Staten Islanders and Jersey and Long Island commuters who are too cheap to pay the toll on the Queens Midtown of Brooklyn Battery tunnels. And I don't appreciate the fact that even though I choose not to drive into Manhattan, my tax dollars go to subsidize their commute.
I'm just pointing out that since Atlantic Yards hasn't even opened yet, these traffic problems are obviously a result of the economic imbalances of having some East River crossings tolled and others free.
Therese Urban
11:04 am on Sunday, December 18, 2011
It's absolutely stupid to close off northbound traffic from 4th Avenue onto Flatbush. It only exacerbates traffic elsewhere and everywhere. It will require traffic persons to direct it at all times and I wonder - who's going to be paying for that? Also, the continued references to "game nights" is so misleading - and exactly what the developer wants us to concentrate on because it limits their responsibility, especially if those are the only nights they have to pay for extra traffic people. There are 365 nights a year for this arena to be rented, and only 45 of them are basketball 'home' games. So let's stop being dupes - this area will be a traffic nightmare all year long, eventually, if not initially, at our expense.
Giacomo
1:20 pm on Sunday, December 18, 2011
"since Atlantic Yards hasn't even opened yet, these traffic problems are obviously a result of the economic imbalances of having some East River crossings tolled and others free." WHAT? The toll situation has been what it's been since forever, yet the traffic snarl discussed here only got this bad in direct correlation with the building of the yards. What are you basing your "argument" on? Long Island and Jersey commuters are driving down 3rd & 4th Avenues? You don't mind your tax dollars going to one developer for something that brings zero benefit to you based on lies & distorted "studies", but because of your virulent anti-car agenda you bristle at having your tax dollars go to maintaining our bridges and roads which benefits 100's of thousands of people (you included since I assume you ride your bike over the bridges & on the roads and benefit from goods, services and emergency responders using these same roads/bridges .I say again...WHAT are you talking about?
Anthony
2:34 pm on Sunday, December 18, 2011
Giacomo, don't you know that cars are evil!!!! If you drive a car your're supporting the terrorist.
Michael Brown
9:32 am on Monday, December 19, 2011
I do object to this particular developer subsidy, but not all of them. I dislike the Atlantic Yards, and wish it had never been approved.
But, that doesn't change the fact that travel patterns on Atlantic Ave, 4th Ave, 3rd Ave, Hicks Street, Queens Blvd, 21st Street in LIC, are all influenced and negatively affected by the lack of tolls on the crossings. It's not that I am anti-car, I am a car owner and frequent driver (hell, I even drove into Manhattan Friday night); it's that I realize that by tolling some crossings and not others, you create irrational traffic patterns. If all the crossings were tolled at similiar rates, you would see traffic move faster on 3rd and 4th Ave, and slower at the tunnels. Drivers would choose to go which crossing was fastest, or closest to their destination, rather than whichever is not tolled. That is what is meant by rational road pricing; it's not about increasing user fees, it's about creating equity across the system rather than having people jump off of the BQE and go up 3rd Ave to cut onto Flatbush to go over the Brooklyn Bridge, because it's free, rather than take the tunnel, which would be faster, and less harmful to Brooklyn residents.
Frank
1:04 pm on Sunday, January 1, 2012
Traffic (and parking) is certainly getting a lot worse lately. I'm tired of folks from staten island and new jersey using bond street as an alternative to the jammed up gowanus (and that's just about everyday).