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April 26, 2012
Concerns Mount Over Barclays Center Sidewalks
Recently released survey of Atlantic Yards project finds less space for crowds than originally thought.
Prospect Heights Patch
by Paul Leonard
Much worry has already been expressed about the expected crush of passenger cars in the wake of Barclays Center's planned opening in September.
But now longtime critics of the project are sounding the alarm over another potential traffic jam—this time of the pedestrian kind.
Atlantic Yards Watch posted the results of a survey Tuesday finding that Barclays' Final Environmental Impact Statement may have overstated the width of sidewalk at several key areas of egress at the 18,000-seat arena.
Among the sidewalk locations found to be narrower than previously disclosed were areas abutting Barclays' Dean Street entrance, around a walkway leading to city subways and those leading to the arena's off-site stacked parking lot.
Related coverage...
mcbrookyn, Botched Sidewalk Widths Could Mean Crowd-Control Nightmare for Barclays Center
A critical measurement used in the formula to assess sidewalk capacity was regularly used incorrectly in the FEIS, according to AYW. As a result, the capacity of more than 86 percent of the sidewalks in the 2006 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) are overstated.
For example: The sidewalk on Dean Street that will be used by arena patrons to walk from the arena parking lot to the arena has an effective width of 3.2 feet instead of the 11.5 feet disclosed in the FEIS. This margin of error is typical, not the exception.
NoLandGrab: The real question is whether the sidewalk measurements in the FEIS were truly an error, or a fraud.
Posted by eric at April 26, 2012 10:38 AM