Will IKEA Be a Traffic Nightmare for Red Hook?
Today’s NY Post has a story that looks at the measures being taken to mitigate the car and people traffic that some believe is going to overwhelm Red Hook when the home-furnishings giant opens next month. First off, there’s going to be a free Water Taxi running between Lower Manhattan and IKEA every 40 minutes…
Today’s NY Post has a story that looks at the measures being taken to mitigate the car and people traffic that some believe is going to overwhelm Red Hook when the home-furnishings giant opens next month. First off, there’s going to be a free Water Taxi running between Lower Manhattan and IKEA every 40 minutes when the store is open. Second, the MTA is extending the B61 and B77 bus lines so they stop directly in front of the store, and IKEA is going to offer a free shuttle between the Borough Hall/Court Street, Smith/9th Street, and 4th Avenue/9th Street subway stops every 10 minutes. The closest subway stop to IKEA, Smith/9th, is more than a mile away from the store. The retailer built 1,400 parking spots and expects 14,000 cars to flock to the store every Saturday. John McGettrick, co-chair of the Red Hook Civic Alliance, believes that number is going to be closer to 20,000, and he says the traffic is going to sink Red Hook’s character. “There’s been no IKEA in this country ever put in a situation like this; most others like the ones in Elizabeth and Paramus in New Jersey have direct access off highways,” says McGettrick. “This is on a tiny peninsula that is basically a dead end.”
IKEA Goes to Se-a in Red Hook [NY Post]
Photo by marko boni.
Who buys crap from Ikea except college students anyway.
You people make fun of any person who has ANYTHING Ikea in their photos here, so what do you care???
they need to re-pave the roads. They’re pretty shitty. It causes everyone to drive at 10 mph.
Wow there seems to be a lot of latent racism in these posts.
And the projects don’t count???????!!!!!
Agree with 10:30. I think it’ll be great to have an IKEA so close, but I’ll be staying away for a few months. First the novelty will need to wear off, then the back-to-school crowds will need to disperse.
And yes, I do believe that the traffic will be uncontrollable–especially in the beginning. Experience with other openings in IKEA-hungry areas proves that. But eventually the traffic will level out.
From Ft Hamilton… W 9th Street and Columbia Streets are the primary roads. How residential are these? To my memory the only residential area around there is are the Projects.
I used to think that Ikea did some things well, but not since they decided to move to Red Hook. Now i completely resent Ikea. I just don’t understand how they could have made such a stupid decision and how the city could have allowed it.
The lower east side around Delancey Street and and Houston is also as far from the subway as much of Red Hook. The fact is, when you are talking about waterfront property, they are almost always a good walk from the subway. Do you need more examples?
Re: The Elizabeth Ikea
Technically, the drive is longer from the highway, but that misses the point. The road to the Elizabeth Ikea is six lanes wide and does not pass through any residential areas. There are only one or two public roadway intersections before you get to the store. In RH, there is no escaping that all that traffic will be going down city streets. There must be 10-15 intersections, many without stoplights, from the highway to the store, not to mention multiple approaches with peiople stuck in traffic likely to turn here and there in seach of an edge. To the extent it will be possible for the City to get a good handle on it and get a good flow, it is going to take a while and some trial and error.
We love Ikea. But we aren’t going anywhere near there by car for three months, until the novelty wears off. Whether or not Ikea is ultimately good or bad for RH has been debated endlessly on this site and elsewhere. Pro or con, however, there is simply no getting around that traffic is going to be nightmarish when this opens. I just hope we can get to the Red Hook pool, Hope and Anchor, Circus Sundays and the Valentino pier without too much trouble this summer.