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May 23, 2012
A Brooklyn arena rises and so do transportation worries
2nd Ave. Sagas
by Benjamin Kabak
Last night, the major stakeholders in the project gathered in Brooklyn to discuss the infrastructure impact the project will have. Led by Sam Schwartz, the traffic and transportation consultant for the project, Forest City Ratner officials and local politicians led a meeting and discussion on transportation demand. While transit use remains the focus for arena-bound patrons, it’s unclear if the plan goes far enough to avoid an influx of congestion in the area, and a call for a residential parking permit program has stalled in Albany.
...What to do with the cars though remains an issue. Schwartz said the number of spaces near the arena has been chopped from 1100 to 541, and those who will drive are being encouraged to park in remote lots. Free shuttle buses will ferry patrons from those lots to the arena as unloading areas around the arena on Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues will be extremely limited. Still, though, parking rates will not be raised to discourage driving, and more importantly, a residential parking plan has stalled in Albany.
The latter point, as Council Member Letitia James noted, is a problem. Even if the bill were to move forward tomorrow, it would likely be another year — and a full basketball season — until the parking passes become a reality, and residents will have to contend with game-bound drivers seeking out a free space. Even with a public outreach effort discouraging drivers, enough temporary arena visitors will cruise Prospect Heights, Park Slope and Fort Greene to cause problems. “I just don’t think there’s enough disincentives,” James said. “I believe cars will flood our residential streets.”
Finally, pedestrian safety is a problem too. While the new subway entrances will siphon arena patrons to the building’s front plaza, crossing Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues in that area isn’t fun on a good day. The city hasn’t been willing to institute many traffic-calming measures around the arena during construction, and there are none on the table for after. It remains, according to Schwartz, a work in progress that will be reassessed periodically.
So I am left wondering how flexible these plans will be. We do not know who will foot the bill for added post-event transit service, and a plan floated in 2009 that would have provided free MetroCards to Barclays Center guests has died a death due to unknown causes. Has Forest City Ratner done enough to discourage parking? Will the conditions on the street disincentivize driving after a few weeks? The Barclays Center arena is one of the most accessible around, and it’s in a neighborhood with little room for additional parking. Transit will be a part of the equation, and how patrons embrace that element will impact how residents come to view the return of professional sports to Brooklyn.
Related coverage...
The Wall Street Journal, New Arena's Traffic Impact Under Debate
But that Mr. Schwartz indicated there was a need to educate people about public transportation troubled Council Member Stephen Levin. "It makes me worry that you're worried that people are still going to drive," Mr. Levin told him.
Transportation Nation, Parking Slashed By Half In Plan For Barclays Center In Downtown Brooklyn
Schwartz says another way of keeping vehicles out of the heavily congested area will be to encourage drivers to park at a half-priced lot a mile away near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and take a free shuttle bus.
However, the arena’s website makes clear that suite-holders will get priority parking: ” You will have a reserved spot within a one to two block radius from the premium entrance. Important to note that our parent company controls parking both on the Arena site and surrounding areas that will enable us to deliver the most convenient parking access possible to our suite customers,” according to the Arena website.
The New York Times, Traffic Plan for a Brooklyn Arena Cuts Parking Slots by Half
“We will scare drivers away from the arena,” Mr. Schwartz said in an interview. “My message to New Yorkers is, Don’t even think of driving to the Barclays arena.”
The goal, he said, is for visitors to travel instead by subway and the Long Island Rail Road, which is to add extra trains to accommodate the fans. But his assurances were met by intense skepticism from several panel members, including the City Council members Letitia James and Stephen T. Levin of Brooklyn.
“If you live in Canarsie or Marine Park, you’re never going to take the train,” Councilman Levin said. “Much of Brooklyn and most of Queens and Staten Island are not accessible by train.”
...Peter Krashes, head of the Dean Street Block Association, whose members live near the arena, said he wished that Mr. Schwartz had proposed residential parking permits to reserve on-street spaces for residents. “It’s definitely a concern that those who aren’t provided parking on site will circle the streets looking for parking,” he said.
NY Daily News, Free MetroCard plan for Barclays Center arena scrapped
Officials have scrapped a plan to give free MetroCards to patrons at the new Nets arena to discourage them from driving.
Developer Forest City Ratner had vowed to give free subway fares to fans who would otherwise drive, but officials dropped that idea from a transportation plan presented Tuesday - saying it wouldn’t make any difference in preventing a traffic mess.
And it would mean them having to give away free subway fares.
“You sort of have to follow the money. That was a tangible contribution they were going to make to get people to ride transit, and that’s fallen by the wayside,” said Gib Veconi of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council. “I think that’s kind of outrageous.”
NY Post, Barclays fouls out on plan to provide MetroCards
There will be no free rides to the new Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn.
The arena’s developer, Forest City Ratner, has scrapped its plan to offer MetroCards to ticketholders for Nets games or other events at the 18,200-seat arena, which opens Sept. 28, in order to encourage people not to drive.
...It left many residents and elected officials fuming that the plan potentially creates more headaches — including jacked-up parking-garage rates that could drive away shoppers in local business strips — while doing little to prevent traffic nightmares.
Prospect Heights Patch, Barclays Center Planners to Public: Don't Drive
Jo Anne Simon, Democratic Leader of Brooklyn's 52nd District and longtime critic of the project, was not impressed by the plan.
"One of the big problems is not whether you can get people to the arena site," she said, "but can you get them home again."
..."It's going to be as bad as everybody fears. I'd like to be proven wrong, but I don't think I will."
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill], Big Transit Boost for Barclays Center, But Costs are Unknown
Brooklyn Speaks, a coalition of opposition groups, called the transportation plan “too little, too late.”
“Effective demand management is a lot more than advertising,” said Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. “But the plan released today doesn’t even include the free subway fare for Nets ticketholders promised in 2009. The [plan] assumes that the public will bear the cost of adding transit capacity after arena events. Instead, the developer should be paying for service enhancements.”
WPIX, Parking still an issue with new Nets stadium [Video]
NY1, Barclays Developers Push Mass Transit As Residents Worry About Parking [Video]
Residents said one of the best ways to discourage drivers is to issue residential parking permits for the neighborhood.
"That eliminates free parking for arena patrons near the arena at the time of arena events," said Tom Boast of the Carlton Avenue Association.
The possibility is being studied but Department of Transportation officials warn that it will take some time.
NoLandGrab: And approval in Albany, which has never yet been forthcoming.
Brownstoner, Barclays Center Transportation Plan Revealed
Posted by eric at May 23, 2012 11:04 AM