Special Reports
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Transpo Committee Adds Southern Locations to Field Hearing Schedule
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has fleshed out the schedule of its nationwide tour to solicit input on transportation issues. The tour is an opportunity for lawmakers to hear what communities around the country would like to see in a new transportation authorization bill.
February 3, 2011
1,100 Space Parking Lot at Issue in Latest Atlantic Yards Fight
The latest round of the knock-down drag-out fight over the Atlantic Yards project is underway, and it's all about parking. At issue is a potential 1,100-space surface parking lot that would be located between Pacific and Dean Streets, just west of Vanderbilt Avenue. That lot has been portrayed as temporary, "interim" parking by the Empire State Development Corporation and project developer Forest City Ratner, but could sit there generating traffic for up to 25 years. Last week several groups filed a motion to halt construction until the environmental impacts of the project are studied more fully.
November 30, 2010
Five Reasons Reformers Are Rallying Behind Obama’s Transpo Push
When President Obama announced his push for a long-term transportation bill on Monday, he introduced a report by his Council of Economic Advisors and the Treasury Department analyzing the economic impact of infrastructure investment [PDF]. At face value, the numbers in the president's plan might not look so impressive. It calls for rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads, laying and maintaining 4,000 miles of railways, and the restoration of 150 miles of airport runways.
October 13, 2010
Team Ratner Unveils Brooklyn’s Most Exhaust-Filled Public Space
Yesterday Forest City Ratner released images of the temporary public plaza slated for the triangle between Flatbush and Atlantic, and you've gotta appreciate the spin coming from the developer and his design team. Wedged between two epic traffic sewers, without much noticeable provision for shade or shelter, it will become, in the words of Bruce Ratner, "one of Brooklyn’s great public spaces." (Until an office tower gets built in its place.)
September 29, 2010
On Transpo Bill, Administration Wants Congress to Sort Out The Details
At a networking event for young transportation professionals yesterday, a member of the Department of Transportation's policy team offered insight into the Obama administration's strategy as it attempts to reset the nation's transportation polices.
September 17, 2010
Eyes on the Street: Protected Bike Lane Discovered on Columbus Ave
After a lot of great advocacy from the Upper West Side Streets Renaissance and a down-to-the-wire vote at Community Board 7 this spring, DOT crews are laying down the first on-street protected bikeway above 34th 59th Street, on Columbus Avenue between 96th and 77th. Streetsblog contributor Ken Coughlin sent in these pictures of the painting and striping in progress last Friday.
August 23, 2010
Friday Bikeway Omnibus Review
We've got a few different bikeway-related reader submissions that have come over the wire recently. First up, Dave "Paco" Abraham sends this picture of a two-way barrier-separated bikeway going in on Furman Street by the downtown Brooklyn waterfront. Furman is on the route of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, and with Brooklyn Bridge Park opening piece by piece, it's already pretty common to see people biking in both directions on this three-lane speedway underneath the BQE cantilever.
August 6, 2010
Postcards From Our National Transportation Funding Meltdown
At an event billed as a “town hall” held at USDOT headquarters yesterday, top department officials answered questions about the future of the nation’s road, rail, bus, and bike networks -- even as the prospects of passing a comprehensive transportation reauthorization bill anytime this year appear as dim as ever. Already, reauthorization of the transportation bill is nearly a year overdue, as lawmakers have failed to muster the will to pay for it.
July 15, 2010
Yankee Stadium Parking Boondoggle Getting Worse Every Day
The subsidy for the new Yankee Stadium's 9,000 parking spaces keeps turning into a worse deal for New York City taxpayers. Juan Gonzalez reports in the Daily News that the garage operator is deep in the red, even after last year's extended championship season:
June 16, 2010