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February 13, 2012
Barclays Center in Brooklyn will create parking and traffic problems
Fury at B’klyn arena parking plan
NY Post
by Rich Calder
An unconventional plan for parking at the new Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn has critics predicting a neighborhood traffic nightmare.
Stack-parking spaces — which use hydraulic lifts to stack anywhere from two to four cars atop one another — are expected to fill roughly half of an 1,100-spot parking lot going up next to the NBA Nets’ arena in Prospect Heights, according to renderings commissioned by project critics based on approved plans.
With nearly a square block— bordered by Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues, and Dean and Pacific streets— designated to be the only on-site event parking lot for many years, the renderings show what many feared: It’s mathematically impossible to fill a state-mandated 1,100 spots there without stacking spaces.
No current New York pro-sports venue uses stack parking.
The concern, neighborhood residents say, is that hydraulic systems and valet service associated with stack parking slow the entry and exit of cars from the lot, potentially creating bumper-to-bumper traffic on surrounding streets and sending antsy drivers to seek the area’s few remaining curbside spaces.
“Getting cars up and down after events and in and out of the lot will be a time-consuming, major undertaking that’s never been studied,” said Gib Veconi of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, one of three civic groups that commissioned the renderings.
...New surface parking lots of this size require tree-lined medians to absorb heat and storm water, but that city law doesn’t apply here because it’s considered “temporary parking.” Under a scenario where the medians were enforced, the lot would only be able to hold about 500 spots, according to additional renderings.
Rendering: BrooklynSpeaks/Original Photo: Jonathan Barkey
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The Real Deal, Critics predict Barclays Center parking nightmare
Posted by eric at February 13, 2012 12:04 PM