At the NYC City Planning Commission’s public hearing on the proposed Red Hook IKEA last week, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign emphasized that the company must offset the traffic impacts of locating on a relatively car-dependent site.

Brooklyn is host to recent developments that have successfully promoted mass transit – like the Atlantic Center Mall, which is sited near major subway lines and charges for parking. While Red Hook is not as transit-friendly as Atlantic Terminal, IKEA should acknowledge that it wants to build in Brooklyn, not along the NJ Turnpike or in the middle of Long Island, and avoid transplanting sprawl development’s worst features into the city.

Both opponents and supporters of the project voiced concerns about its traffic impacts, many agreeing with the Campaign that transit enhancements would reduce customer car trips.

The Campaign’s suggestions are:

• Implement smart parking policies, like reducing overall supply and charging for customer parking, with revenue dedicated to transit improvements; change curbside regulations near the store to discourage free parking.

• Build a passenger elevator at the elevated Smith-9^th Street subway station.

• Daily IKEA shuttle bus and ferry service, with a shuttle route connecting Smith-9^th Street, Borough Hall, and Atlantic Avenue subways and city bus transfer points.

• Bus route improvements within Red Hook.

• Add bus shelters at busy area stops.

• Implement "leading pedestrian intervals" at intersections surrounding IKEA, to give exclusive crossing time to pedestrians (particularly along Lorraine Street).

• Bus priority signals to speed buses through traffic, particularly for the B61 route.

• Sheltered bike parking near the store entrance and waterfront promenade.

• "Cash in lieu of parking" that allows employees to trade a free parking spot, if provided by the company, for its cash equivalent, which can be used for transit or other forms of non-auto commuting (with the worker pocketing any savings as an incentive).

Apparently, the company is considering offering the TransitChek program to its Brooklyn workforce. The measure reduces transit commute costs by allowing purchase of fares with pre-tax income.

There won’t be any word on whether the City Planning Commission agrees with such recommendations until September, when members are expected to vote on the project.  

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