There was supposed to be a traffic study after 1,500 apartments were built. The DOT decided to wait. Maybe that makes sense, as plan changes await.

Place this in the bucket of "things everybody forgot about."

According to the June 2014 Second Amended Memorandum of Environmental Commitments (MEC), a state document reflecting commitments made by original developer Forest City Ratner and its successors to avoid adverse environmental impacts, there was supposed to be a traffic study after 1,500 Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park apartments were built.

That would have been in October 2021, after 662 Pacific (B15, aka Plank Road) opened between Dean and Pacific streets east of Sixth Avenue, across from the Barclays Center. It didn't happen.

Why the delay?

I asked Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. The response:

We are told that the developer reached out to NYCDOT [Department of Transportation] regarding this study. NYCDOT expressed an interest in postponing until a later date and possibly tied to future planning for Site 5.

(I queried DOT, but didn't hear back.)

There's a logic to waiting, especially since other buildings, notably the nearby (and very large) 18 Sixth Ave. (B4, aka Brooklyn Crossing) were under construction, and two buildings on the southeast block, collectively 595 Dean St. (B12/B13) were in process.

Site 5 is across from the Barclays Center and is currently home to P.C. Richard and the now-closed Modell's, which is being retooled for a temporary Brooklyn Basketball youth facility.

It was approved for a 250-foot, 440,000 square foot tower, but the project developer wants to build a much larger two-tower project there, with one tower rising 910 feet and a total of 1.242 million square feet, transferring bulk from the unbuilt tower slated to loom over the arena, and has gained support from ESD.

So it makes sense to assess what is approved to emerge at Site 5, given perhaps 1,000 apartments and a hotel with perhaps 550 rooms.

What about the arena?

It's not clear to me whether the study would also assess the impact of traffic generated by Barclays Center events, which varies significantly between, say, Brooklyn Nets games, when more people take public transit, and family shows or concerts attracting older ticketholders, which attract people arriving by vehicle.

That task is not in the scope, excerpted below, but if the scope changes, it could presumably also encompass the arena, for which previous assessments focused on Nets games.

From the MEC

5. Promptly after the issuance of certificates of occupancy for 1,500 Project dwelling units, FCRC shall undertake a traffic monitoring study pursuant to a scope to be approved by NYCDOT to:

(i) refine the signal timing and other traffic mitigation measures described in the FEIS [Final Environmental Impact Statement] and FSEIS [Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement] as necessary to reflect then existing traffic conditions;

(ii) provide further information as to the implementation date for the signal timing and other traffic mitigation measures specified in the FEIS and FSEIS; and

(iii) identify potential additional measures to address unmitigated significant adverse impacts identified in the FEIS and FSEIS based on then existing traffic conditions. FCRC shall undertake a second traffic monitoring study with the same objectives following substantial completion of Project construction.

Both traffic monitoring studies shall conform to the requirements specified in the letter from NYCDOT to ESD dated May 30, 2014 (the “2014 DOT Letter”), and shall include the evaluation of additional measures to enhance overall safety at the Atlantic Avenue/Vanderbilt Avenue intersection as specified in the FSEIS.

FCRC shall fund and/or implement any identified safety improvements at this intersection at the direction of DOT. FCRC shall also comply with all other requirements of the 2014 DOT Letter (and the DOT letter dated November 22, 2006 (the “2006 DOT Letter”) to the extent not superseded by the 2014 DOT Letter), including those pertaining to the funding of mitigation measures. The traffic monitoring study required after the issuance of certificates of occupancy for 1,500 Project dwelling units shall be in lieu of the traffic monitoring study at the completion of Phase I discussed in the FEIS.