Extended fencing/barriers for construction on Dean Street cause huge bottleneck, conflict with operating businesses

The not-fully-disclosed but inevitable consequences of stuffing the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project into Prospect Heights now causes significant bottlenecks on Dean Street between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues.

Dean Street has been narrowed significantly, with barriers extended south into the street to accommodate an unusual 16-foot-high construction fence, in anticipation of construction on the block north of Dean, which is the southeast block of the project site.

The fence was ordered to help protect neighbors from the significant noise created by the project.

But the south side of Dean is still a working street, with both residential and businesses, as noted in an incident report by resident Peter Krashes on Atlantic Yards Watch.

And that means that businesses operating on Dean have been forced to use the sidewalk for parking, an illegal if understandable tactic, which causes a further bottleneck for traffic, and increases hazards for pedestrians.

Krashes notes that he didn't get a direct answer when asked if Forest City Ratner or the Department of Transportation had contacted the businesses on Dean regarding the impacts of the MPT (maintenance and protection of traffic barriers). He adds:

There is construction taking place at 636 Dean Street, across the street from the project. 636 Dean Street is mid-block, and not across from the 535 Carlton or 550 Vanderbilt. Today the contractors needed to load in materials. How are they supposed to do it if the former parking lane is now the travel lane? 

The answer is in the video below, in which the sidewalk was functionally closed because a crane was being used to lift materials. Two public buses and a school bus were stuck in the bottleneck.