A bicyclist killed by truck in North Slope off truck route; continuing concern regarding trucks on residential streets around Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park

Yesterday, as reported by outlets such as Gothamist and Streetsblog, a truck driver on narrow Sixth Avenue killed a cyclist at Sterling Place. (I lived near there for 17 years.)

There's no evidence the truck was heading to or from the Barclays Center, but the construction and operation of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park has changed the road system, sometimes on a daily or weekly basis. One Gothamist commenter wrote, "Trucks on 6th have become much more of an issue since the Barclays Center opened."

Gothamist noted that the 78th Precinct, which has found a number of moving violations, has not issued tickets for violating a truck route. The rules are somewhat flexible, but not completely so:

An operator is allowed to travel on a street that is not a designated truck route for the purpose of arriving at his or her destination.When accessing such a location, the operator must leave a designated truck route at the intersection that is nearest to his/her destination, proceed by the most direct route, and then return to the nearest designated truck route using the most direct route.

The Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park effect

Indeed, city and state officials have allowed trucks to go on residential Dean Street, saying that obstructions make it difficult to turn on Sixth Avenue to get to nearby Flatbush Avenue.

The overall impact has been exacerbated by periodic temporary street shutdowns or jams. As one Dean Street resident wrote on Atlantic Yards Watch last week:

Dean Street, between Carlton & Vanderbilt Avenue, has been closed to my knowledge since yesterday morning and is still closed today. This has created a parking lot on Dean Street between 6th & Carlton Avenues. The honking outside my door has been going on since early this morning. I have a home office in my living room - this situation is both unpleasant and distracting. I am rather exhausted by this development and construction completely taking over our neighborhood.

Recent postings on Instagram and YouTube point to blockages and disruptions on Dean Street.

Huge delivery truck is backed into Dean/Carlton entrance to block 1129, closing Dean and Carlton and disrupting/dwarfing the neighborhood. The entrance is not included in the truck protocols and this maneuver, like a number of maneuvers to enable convenient delivery of construction materials, has never been detailed to the public. Watch the whole video here to get the picture: https://youtu.be/rU3zp3hw5As. My neighbors and I have all seen trucks like this driving the wrong way up Dean from Vanderbilt to Carlton while the street was officially open! Note that there is a clear approach to this location from inside the fence but it is presumably less convenient so not used. More photos to come. Tuesday, April 12th, 2016 at 8:08 am. @EmpireStateDev @nyc_dot @nycmayorsoffice @nyc311 #bciza #pacificparkbk @hdr_inc @STVGroup @nypd78thpcc @atlanticyards_pacificpk_report

A video posted by @pplegacy on Apr 19, 2016 at 7:40pm PDT

Here's a peek inside the fenced in area from the Pacific/Carlton side at exactly the moment the huge truck is being backed into the Dean Street side. See how easy it would be to deliver the material from the Pacific side as has always been anticipated. It's a clear shot from Pacific to where the materials are apparently needed. Whose job is it to balance contractor convenience vs neighborhood impacts? @hdr_inc @STVGroup @EmpireStateDev @nyc_dot @nycmayorsoffice @nyc311 @nypd78thpcc @atlanticyards_pacificpk_report

A photo posted by @pplegacy on Apr 19, 2016 at 7:46pm PDT