Bus Priority Plan on Flatbush Avenue Would Leave Little Slack Near Barclays Center
With "No Standing" in pockets near arena, wouldn't enforcement be needed to prevent congestion? Also, change in Pacific Street direction could challenge Site 5 construction.
On Sept. 5, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) announced Better Bus Service: NYC DOT to Begin Installing Flatbush Avenue Bus Lanes This Fall, Unveils Design, updating a previous plan (my coverage) for the northern part of Flatbush Avenue, from Livingston Street to Grand Army Plaza, proposing new center-running bus lanes, separated from regular traffic, to prioritize and speed bus service.
The plan includes:
Six large concrete bus boarding islands spanning more than 13,000 square feet to create physically separated bus lanes “and a high-quality transit experience”
Some 14,300 square feet of new, painted pedestrian space
Eleven new dedicated loading zones, for over 50 trucks or 83 passenger vehicles
Up to 14 new roadway bike parking areas, accommodating more than 170 bikes
While the plan prompted kudos from several elected officials and transportation advocates, it’s prompted pushback from not only drivers grousing about congestion but also some transportation experts.
I also have questions, notably whether the typical illegal parking or idling on streets flanking the Barclays Center will be enforced, and whether little slack for drop-offs and pickups might cause cumulative congestion.
After all, as one of my mantras goes, “it’s a very tight fit.” Now it would get tighter.
General pushback
Passengers United Allan Rosen, a former director of MTA NYCT Bus Planning, warned of chaos:
Passengers, including those using wheelchairs, will now have to cross a lane of traffic before getting on and off any bus. How is this safer than current conditions? It also means that at virtually every intersection, all other traffic will be reduced to a single lane with no left-hand turns allowed and only opportunities for three right turns, which will be difficult for trucks. That means once you become stuck in traffic, there will virtually be no way out. All traffic will have to stop when any car needs to park or leave a parking space. The impact on other traffic has not been studied and is being ignored.
Transportation architect Jonathan Cohn, writing in Streetsblog (which is generally enthusiastic about the DOT plan), proposed instead a busway on Atlantic Avenue, suggesting the DOT proposal “reinforces Flatbush as a ‘spoke’ in the outdated ‘hub-and-spoke’ model of urban infrastructure that is designed to get commuters to a city center only.”
Then again, though Cohn observes that “Flatbush Avenue sits atop multiple subway lines, and is far from the borough’s greatest transit need,” many people who take buses can’t or won’t take the subway.
That doesn’t preclude action on Atlantic, which is near the slow Fulton Street bus route (which is over the A/C trains).
What’s next?
DOT plans to begin installing bus lane markings and painted curb extensions this fall, with work resuming next spring. Due to the size of the project and complexity of constructing new concrete islands, DOT expects the project to be completed in fall 2026, according to the press release.
DOT, which on Sept. 4 presented its plan to Brooklyn Community Board 2, said more community board presentations are planned. The agency welcomes further feedback before implementation.
Pacific Street reversed?
Here, I focus on some of the changes—tweaks, mostly—that emerged in the most recent presentation.
First, note the proposal to make Pacific Street between Fourth and Flatbush avenues westbound, rather than eastbound. The rationale: it would help protect the center-running bus lanes and provide an “alternate route for deliveries from restaurant hub.”
That seems a significant concession to Chick-fil-A and (to a lesser degree) Shake Shack, as well as app-based delivery services, on the south side of Flatbush below Pacific, without any reciprocation.
The enormous volume of deliveristas already prompted the removal of parking spaces for a bike corral.
Haven’t additional Chick-fil-A locations relatively nearby reduced some of that volume?
I queried the North Flatbush Business Improvement District (NFBID) about this. “Anecdotally/visually, it has significantly reduced the volume initiated from the NFBID location,” responded the NFBID’s James Dean Ellis. “According to the Chick- management, the North Flatbush Ave store has experienced a 50% decrease in deliveries since the two newest locations have opened.”
Impact on Site 5: right turns from Flatbush?
The DOT presentation does not address any impact on the parcel known as Site 5, north of Pacific Street and west of the small Pacific Bears Community Garden. It’s also bounded by Flatbush, Atlantic, and Fourth avenues.
Site 5, longtime home to P.C. Richard and the now-closed Modell’s (soon to reopen, temporarily, as a Brooklyn Basketball training center), is planned for a giant, two-tower project as part of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park
Site 5, according to an interim lease signed by Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, would have a midblock loading dock on Pacific Street, across from a low-rise residential block on the south side. (The plan still requires a public approval process, which has not started.)
The proposal, DOT spokesman Vin Barone told me, would allow only for right turns from southbound Flatbush Avenue traffic. The significant angle of that turn, to my eye, would make it particularly challenging for trucks and, as shown below, the limited turning radius could stall traffic.
During construction, could part of Pacific Street be temporarily designated for eastbound traffic, allowing for turns off Fourth Avenue to feed that loading dock? Maybe, but it would compound congestion.
Could Fourth Avenue, rather than Pacific Street, serve as entrance to a loading dock? Maybe, but it’s a relatively short stretch. It seems clear, though, that Flatbush would not have any slack for loading or even scaffolding.
Note that DOT’s plans for Pacific Street differ enormously from that proposed in the 2022 Crossroads sessions sponsored by the advocacy group BrooklynSpeaks. Architect John Massengale, in his Urban Design/Street Design presentation, proposed that Pacific Street become a curbless, slow street.
From Atlantic to Fifth: southbound
I’ve annotated the slide below with orange arrows and rectangles, for the stretch of Flatbush Avenue between Atlantic and Fifth avenues near the Barclays Center.
Starting bottom right, you can see the designation regarding the conversion of Pacific Street. That yellow pedestrian bump-out would narrow the radius for trucks to turn.
Also, the proposed truck loading zone on the south side of Pacific—an area just more mixed-use than the row-house section down the block—could further challenge a construction project.
The overall plan, Barone said, focuses on ensuring parking turnover on and nearby Flatbush Avenue, to support local businesses while also allowing through traffic to flow without obstructions from double parking. Hence the proposed Truck Loading zone on Pacific.
What about the proposed No Standing Anytime regulation along southbound Flatbush Avenue above Pacific Street, which would allow pick-up and drop-off of passengers? In a previous plan, that was No Stopping Anytime.
If it’s just one lane, wouldn’t “No Standing” fuel congestion?
“The adjustments from No Standing Anytime to No Stopping Anytime was made based on feedback we’ve heard and we believe this accommodation will work with the project design,” Barone said in response to my query. “DOT will continuously monitor field conditions during and after project implementation and update curb regulations as necessary.”
Note: the plan does not, at least in the materials released, address the role of dollar vans on Flatbush.
From Atlantic to Fifth: northbound
On the north side of Flatbush, my vertical orange arrow points to a new crosswalk between the west corner of Pacific Street and Atlantic Avenue. That should afford arena visitors an easier path.
Also, my angled orange arrow and blue arrow point to a curbside area unmarked with any regulation. Is that for parking outside the arena? Today, it’s periodically used by vehicles, including TV trucks or vendor trucks, parked outside the arena.
Asked what uses DOT expects/encourages, Barone said DOT is planning a No Standing Anytime regulation for this curbside lane, consistent with current use.
OK, so that should be marked on the slide. I’d add that the No Standing regulation is regularly flouted and probably needs to be enforced to ensure that traffic flows.
What if a protest gathers at the Barclays Center plaza? It’s likely that police and other official vehicles would fill the curbside lane.
The same issues with No Standing arise with the former bus stop below Pacific Street in the northbound lane.
Ellis, of the NFBID, said they are not privy to conversations between DOT and the arena operations team, but hope to better understand the plans. A No Standing regulation, he said, could support for hire-vehicle drop off/pick up for events: “But not certain why the choice of no standing vs-no-stopping in any of the locations.”
From Fifth to Bergen: southbound
On the south side of Flatbush, notice that the former curbside bus stop becomes new pedestrian space and bike parking, with the one travel lane separated from the bus lane in each direction.
Note a proposed truck loading zone and metered parking on Dean Street—a restaurant area!—between Fifth and Flatbush.
On Flatbush below Dean Street, there’s a space for proposed truck loading, with no standing anytime in a narrowing lane.
Note the new mid-block pedestrian crossing, marked with the blue arrow, which would lead to the bus boarding island.
How would that be signaled? If a traffic light, doesn't that open up a chance for congestion, with vehicles potentially blocking Dean Street? DOT, Barone told me, is “currently evaluating the traffic control for the midblock crossings to the bus boarding islands.”
Ellis noted that a similar midblock crossing is slated for the block between Park Place and Sterling Place.
From Fifth to Bergen: northbound
Northbound Flatbush Avenue, just above Dean Street, has a proposed No Standing Anytime regulation outside the restaurant Just Salad and, presumably, the Brooklyn Fanatics team store that’s part of the Barclays Center perimeter.
Again, that strikes me as leaving little margin for error, especially when an arena event prompts many drop-offs.
Below Dean Street, the yellow marking indicates new pedestrian space and bike parking. Just to the south, there’s a proposed No Standing Anything regulation.
Other concerns
Ellis said the NFBID supports measures to improve public transportation outcomes and the the public experience of visiting North Flatbush Avenue.
However, when they’ve asked about enforcing current curbside/driving regulations that would accomplish many of the same goals, the response “has been to lean in on design oriented solutions rather than enforcement/ human capital solutions,” he said.
Among the issues that remain include design of the center median and amenities such as seating and shelter.
Given the elimination of some 40 parking spaces, the NYPD’s use of placard parking, disregarding curb regulations, Ellis observed, “may sabotage the plan’s intended efficacy,” so coordination is needed.
The NFBID, given its role supporting the local business community, is concerned about parking for business visitors and the opportunity for drop off/in transactions.
The NFBID isn’t the only constituent, so surely others will weigh in. Note that last year’s Riders Alliance report, Better Buses for Flatbush Avenue, stresses the importance of improved service.
Drawing on surveys and focus groups of Flatbush Avenue bus riders and small businesses, it focused on the sections between Empire Boulevard and Brooklyn College, not the segment currently planned for center bus lanes—though, presumably, backups closer to Downtown Brooklyn affect service further south.
Great analysis. Thanks
Allan Rosen, a former director of MTA NYCT Bus Planning, comments made an excellent case for this plan causing unbearable chaos!
What I meant to say is no left turns are permitted from Atlantic Ave to Flatbush Ave. You were required to make a right turn on to Pacific to make a left onto Flatbush. With Pacific reversed how do you go north on Flatbush coming from Fourth Ave?