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June 9, 2010
Traffic is a full-court press near Atlantic Yards, residents say
NY Daily News
by Erin Durkin
It's a traffic nightmare around the Atlantic Yards site, say residents.
Rush hour brings gridlock that can stretch for blocks on to once-quiet chunks of Dean and Bergen Sts., neighbors say.
The traffic snarls have increased since parts of Pacific St. and Fifth Ave. closed in early March to make way for developer Bruce Ratner's new Nets arena and 16-tower project, pushing more vehicles onto neighboring streets.
"It's crazy here," said Dean St. resident Gwen Orta, 49.
...John Buchbinder, 57, of Pacific St., said whether he's walking, biking, or driving, it's gotten much harder to get around.
"This really has not been thought out," he said. "It's gridlock. It's brutal. I understand they need to do their construction thing, but this is making it quite intolerable for anyone who's around here."
...Matthew Ingle, 41, who has lived on Dean St. for 11 years, said frustrated drivers jockey for position, block crosswalks, and blast their horns. "If it were just traffic, I couldn't care less," he said. "The horn honking is out of control."
NoLandGrab: Who wants to bet that incredibly annoying horn-honking was not even mentioned in the Atlantic Yards Environmental Impact Statement? Or the increase in emissions from gridlocked vehicles, in a neighborhood with one of the city's highest asthma rates?
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, Daily News follows up on Dean Street traffic issues
The story is headlined Traffic is a full-court press near Atlantic Yards, residents say. There's no credit to previous coverage by AYR.
From the article:
Ratner spokesman Joe DePlasco said the developer is working on fixes such as traffic signal timing changes. The Department of Transportation will evaluate how well it's working and request changes if necessary, he said.
NLG: Yes, lengthening or shortening signal timings by two or three seconds ought to fix it. That's the ticket.
Posted by eric at June 9, 2010 10:55 AM