Eyes on the Street

We hate to pile on more bad news today, but these tipster-submitted photos of the Brooklyn Ikea grand opening bear witness to the onslaught of traffic about to engulf Red Hook. Apparently, the cars queuing up for cheaply-constructed furniture are stretching the store's 1,400 parking spaces to the max (which would explain why Ikea thought it necessary to annex the old Revere Sugar refinery lot next door). Judging from this anecdotal evidence, Red Hook will not only be subject to the 17,000 car trips projected for peak days, but most of those vehicles will be of the huge, extra-cargo-hauling variety.

From Streetsblog regular BicyclesOnly comes this shot of construction work going on now at Madison Square. More photos here, and here is DOT's project presentation. When complete, the renovation -- one of two planned for Broadway this summer -- will reclaim over 37,000 sq. ft. of public space from auto traffic.

From Clinton Hill Blog via Gothamist:

The Associated Press reports that Senator Barack Obama, taking a brief respite before launching his general election bid, enjoyed a bike ride with his family this weekend:

Looks like there's a new preferred bike route from the Brooklyn Bridge to the west side of Manhattan, and DOT's signs and markings division wants you to know about it. The sign in this shot, snapped by Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson at the foot of the bridge, looks more like what you'd see from behind a windshield than from beneath a bike helmet.

A tipster sends along these fresh shots of construction on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights. The new pedestrian refuges give the street a geometry very similar to what we saw on Broadway in Williamsburg two weeks ago. Below, the remnants of old trolley tracks get unearthed. We're told the foreman says his crew is having a devil of a time working around the tangle of metal.

A tipster sends these photos of more storefront bike-ped advocacy, this time at Paragon Sports on Broadway, north of Union Square.

After taking an evening ride down Broadway in Williamsburg last week, Clarence Eckerson sent us a batch of pictures showing the street's nifty new road treatments. Between Kent Avenue and Bedford Avenue, Broadway now sports bike lanes, bike boxes, and pedestrian refuges with space for plantings. The changes have significantly narrowed the car travel lanes, Clarence reports. More pics after the jump.

Last time we checked in on the Columbia Street section of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, construction was in full swing. Now, along much of the path in Carroll Gardens and Red Hook, the orange barrels are gone and new plantings are taking root. Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson snapped these shots last week, noting that about 40 new trees have been planted on Columbia between Atlantic Avenue and Degraw Street. The paths and plantings have completely changed the feel of the street, he tells us.