aizajowers's posterous
Marinescu leads opening F2 session
David PhillipsEditor and Chief
David Phillips is a long-time contributor to print and electronic publications in the U.S. and abroad, including Racer, Autosport, AutoWeek, Motor Sport and SPEEDtv.com, oversees the daily updating of news stories and assigns, edits and contributes feature material for inRacingNews.com.
Chris HalliRacing.com Series Writer
Chris Hall has been writing since the nineties and moved into motorsports reporting in 2005, covering series such as ALMS, British GT, FIA GT, Le Mans and 2CV racing for Full Throttle magazine, Motorsport.com, The-Paddock.net, GTGateway.com, L' Endurance and, of course, inRacingNews. During 2008 and 2009, he worked with the RSS Performance Porsche Carrera Cup Team (and former British GT(C) champions) as a data engineer for a variety of drivers and models of 997s.
Jameson SpiesContributing Writer
19 years old, Jameson Spies lives in Quartz Hill, California. He grew-up surrounded by racing. His mother raced late models throughout Southern California while his father built and setup the car. Not surprisingly, Jameson began racing go-karts at the age of 13, and is now racing Spec Trucks at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. He has a passion about all forms of racing and hopes to make a career out of it.
Jason LofingiRacing.com Series Writer
Jason is 21 years old and was born and raised in Elk Grove. California. A big time NASCAR fan, he hasn?t missed a race on Sunday in years. Lofing is also a huge San Fransisco Giants fan and tries to take in at least a couple games a year. Other than sim racing, his biggest (and far more expensive!) hobby is photography. Although he is rather new to sim racing, Lofing has already accomplished some pretty impressive results, qualifying for the 2011 iRacing Oval Pro Series in Season 1, 2011, winning the inaugural Landon Cassill Qualifying Challenge and finishing runner-up in the second one.
Ray BrydenTechnical contributor
Ray grew up in Nova Scotia, which means he?s a hockey nut, but in Nova Scotia?s two non-winter months he had to find other diversions, which meant watching F1 racing on weekends with his dad and brothers. Without the resources to get started in racing, he gravitated to computer versions of racing ? first Atari games like Pole Position, followed by PC racing games like Indianapolis 500: The Simulation. Dozens of others came and went, until Grand Prix Legends came along and he decided sim-racing was his official hobby. Years were spent enjoying this both offline and online until a few years of fatherhood took priority. When free-time reappeared he heard about iRacing and signed up in 2008 and became so involved in the service that he wrote one of the first books on the subject of sim-racing, iRacing Paddock. When not writing for inRacingNews.com, his main occupation is as a research associate with Saint-Gobain working on advanced ceramic materials.
Tony RickardContributing WriterTony first started sim racing in 1990 with the release of Indy 500 and got hooked from then on, getting to grips with the major releases until Grand Prix Legends (GPL) saw him race online for the first time. From that point on Internet racing was the only option and Tony has competed in a number of online championships from 1998 on. During which time he has discovered the genuine camaraderie that exists in Internet Racing.
Tony is 48, married with three children and resides in the UK. The mix of motorsport and computing take up most of his spare time away from the family and his role as an IT Manager.-->
Patrick AthertonContributing Writer
Patrick Atherton, originally from Adelaide in the state of South Australia, currently resides just outside of Melbourne, Victoria with wife of 17 years and 3 kids. A business manager by profession, but also dabbles with blogging, cartooning and fine art, having been published both as a writer in a short-lived South Australian motorsport yearbook and later as a cartoonist in a niche trade magazine. At the age of 19 he competed in club circuit events in an Austin Healey Sprite, later indulging in sprint karts between 1994 and 2000. Following the move to the State of Victoria he raced Road Race Karts (?Superkarts? as they are known in Australia) in the popular Rotax class, competing at Phillip Island, Oran Park, Mallala, Wakefield Park, Eastern Creek, Calder Park, Sandown and Winton. It was during this time he met former Australian F2 champion and inventor of Australia?s first, and most prolific race simulator rig, Jon Crooke. This culminated in an introduction to Papyrus? legendary NR2003 simulation, and the subsequent sim racing addiction which brought him to iRacing.
Tim TerryContributing Writer
Tim Terry, aka the voice of Maritime stock car racing, fell in love with sim racing in 2004 after he joined the Sim Racing Network crew as a pit reporter. From October 2004 to SRNtv?s closure in June 2007, he?s covered prestigious races and leagues such as the Online 500, FLM Fall 400, Real Racing Online and the DMP Racing League ? each as the lead broadcaster for the company. At the same time the wheels started to turn in another direction as he began announcing stock car racing locally. Terry became the assistant announcer at Scotia Speedworld in May 2007 and took over full duties in May 2009 when long-time voice Mike Kaplan retired from the track. Terry also became the series voice of the Parts For Trucks Pro Stock Tour in ?09 and continues to hold down both posts in 2011. He has also announced races for the Pro All Stars Series, Atlantic Open Wheel and Maritime League of Legends tours and has called races at six different Atlantic Canadian tracks. Terry can be heard online at WebRacingNetwork.com, RLMtv.com and OLRtv.com covering sim races. He also makes occasional appearances on PSRtv.com. In addition to inRacingNews, his articles and columns can be read on ScotiaSpeedworld.ca, MaritimeProStockTour.com and his own website at timterryonline.com.
David AllenContributing Writer
North Carolina born and raised with over 15 years of computer/IT experience, I combine two of my biggest hobbies -- racing and technology -- here at inRacingNews. In my spare time I run a Nascar fan site and cure my own need for speed riding atvs. If it involves technology or racing I'll be there, but combine the two and I'll be looking a front row seat. Stop by and say hello anytime!
Allen KrierContributing Writer
Allen was born in West Palm Beach, Florida but grew up in Atlanta and attended Georgia College and State University where he received a BS in Information Systems. Currently a resident of Albany, GA, he started sim racing in 2008 while in college when iRacing was first released to the public. Since then, Krier has been a two time iRacing Pro Series driver (2009 and 2010), picking up one Pro Series win at Daytona in ?09. Besides sim racing, Allen?s other hobbies include RC Car racing as well as ?attending and watching any sporting event that I can including going to the local dirt track.
Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/marinescu-leads-opening-f2-session
Official: Toyota pushes back TS030 race debut after test-session crash
"Mentsch tracht, Gott lacht," goes the old Yiddish proverb. Man plans, God laughs. And that certainly applies to motor racing, where engineers, mechanics, strategists... entire teams spend day and night over the course of months preparing to campaign their new race car, only for it all to go horribly wrong at the last minute. And that's what the folks at Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne, Germany, are apparently facing now.
After having their Formula One program shut down a couple of years ago by corporate headquarters, Toyota Motorsport has been hunting for a new project ever since. That new project turned out to be the TS030 Hybrid, an advanced Le Mans prototype which they've been gearing up to campaign in the new FIA World Endurance Championship and its headline event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Only those plans were set back some ? if not ground to a halt ? last Wednesday when the only working example of the TS030 crashed while undergoing testing at the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France.
In the statement after the jump, Toyota doesn't specify exactly what happened or who was driving at the time, but you can be sure he's feeling pretty morose right now, because the chassis was damaged so extensively that the team won't be able to repair it in time for the Six Hours of Spa where the car was supposed to make its race debut on May 5. Toyota does, however, expect to be up and running again in time for Le Mans in June, although whether that will leave the team with enough time to build the two cars it was expecting to field there or have to revert to a single entrant remains to be seen.
Show full PR text
TOYOTA RACING TO DELAY SEASON DEBUTTOYOTA Racing regrets to announce that, as a result of a testing accident, it is not able to participate in the WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
During testing at Paul Ricard, on Wednesday 4 April, the TS030 HYBRID was involved in an accident which damaged the team's only monocoque.
Regrettably this damage is too severe to repair. A replacement monocoque cannot be produced and sufficiently tested to ensure reliability within the limited time available.
Therefore TOYOTA Racing has informed the organizers of the FIA World Endurance Championship of its decision to withdraw from the WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, due to be held on 5 May. The team will make its first appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.
Yoshiaki Kinoshita, TOYOTA Racing Team President:
"We are deeply saddened to announce this decision and our sympathies are with the drivers, team members and fans who have been anticipating the Spa race so eagerly. Since the accident we have looked into all options but unfortunately there is no alternative course of action open to us."
TOYOTA Racing will now urgently prepare a new monocoque to allow it to resume testing as soon as possible and prepare itself for the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/04/11/toyota-pushes-back-ts030-race-debut-after-test-session-crash/
Kasey Kahne, No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet Impala Texas Motor Speedway Preview
No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet Impala (Credit: Getty Images For NASCAR)
KASEY KAHNE QUICK FACTSNo. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet
Texas Motor Speedway
O?Reilly Auto Parts 300
April 13, 2012
No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet News and Notes
Kasey Kahne Texas Motor Speedway NNS Stats
Starts Poles Wins Top-Fives Top-10?s DNFs Avg. Start Avg. Finish
11 0 1 1 2 3 13.0 21.9
Kasey Kahne Career NNS Stats
Starts Poles Wins Top-Fives Top-10?s Avg. Start Avg. Finish
180 8 7 34 66 12.7 16.7
Special paint scheme featuring EA Sports for the No. 38 this weekend?.
Kahne at Texas Speedway: By the numbers? In 11 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) starts at TMS, Kahne has one win (2005), one top-five and two top-10 finishes with a total of 78 laps led. Kahne?s win at TMS in 2005 was during his first tenure driving the No. 38 Great Clips machine before leaving the NNS and progressing up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS).
In NSCS competition at TMS, Kahne is credited with one win (2006), one pole, four top-five and four top-10 finishes. He has a total of 218 laps led with an average start of 12.1 and an average finish of 19.6.
Home-track Advantage? Turner Motorsports considers TMS their home track with the team?s original headquarters based in Halletsville, Texas. Turner?s youngest daughter, Kris, and current Turner Motorsports driver, James Buescher, have both won championships for the organization racing Bandolero cars at the 1.5-mile tri-oval.
Who?s on the pit box? Mike Shiplett joined Turner Motorsports in 2012 and has a unique role as he calls the shots for both a veteran (Kahne) and a rookie (Brad Sweet). It is a reunion of sorts for Kahne and Shiplett, who were paired together in the NNS during the 2007 season and put down impressive results including two victories (Charlotte Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, spring events).
This Week?s Impala? The No. 38 team will unload chassis TMS-321 this weekend at TMS. This chassis last saw track time at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where Kahne finished 10th after starting from the outside pole and leading 40 laps.
In Brad?s World ? Don?t think that just because Kahne is behind the wheel that Rookie of the Year contender Sweet is not hard at work himself on the weekends. The rookie travels to the track with the No. 38 team to watch practice, study what his mentor (Kahne) does on the track and watch the race from the spotter?s stand.
Kahne and Sweet: a unique combination? Not only are Kahne and Sweet good friends off the track, but the veteran is serving as mentor to Sweet as he makes the transition from open-wheel competition to stock cars. Sweet was handpicked by Kahne in 2008 to drive for Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR) where he has since experienced tremendous success in the World of Outlaws Series. Sweet will continue to compete on a limited basis for KKR when he is not behind the wheel of the No. 38 Great Clips machine in the NNS. You can expect Kahne to be very involved and present in the NNS garage when Sweet is behind the wheel of the No. 38 as he will closely monitor his progress and offer encouragement.
Kahne brought Great Clips their first win! From 2003-2005, Kahne and his sponsor, Great Clips, Inc., reached momentous milestones, including capturing Kahne?s first Nationwide Series victory in 2003 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was also Great Clips? first win as a primary sponsor. In 2005, Kahne captured his second career win at Texas Motor Speedway before leaving the Nationwide Series to allow more time for his Sprint Cup Series efforts.
Great Clips goes racing with the World of Outlaws in 2012! Great Clips will serve as sponsor for KKR driver Joey Saldana for the 2012 World of Outlaws season. The Minneapolis-based company has been a sponsor of KKR for the past two seasons. This year, they will be featured on all three KKR entries ? as a primary sponsor on the #9 with Saldana as well as associate sponsor placement on Brad Sweet?s #49 and Cody Darrah?s #5 World of Outlaws cars.
12 Years and Counting? Great Clips, Inc. is currently the longest-running sponsor in the NNS and has used the Nationwide Series as their primary marketing platform for the last 11 years. Their sponsorship began in 2000 with Akins Motorsports as they climbed on board to sponsor the team?s No. 38 entry with driver, Christian Elder. Mark Green piloted the No. 38 for one season before general manager, Doug Stringer, hired up-and-coming talent, Kasey Kahne, thereby solidifying Great Clips? commitment to their NASCAR sponsorship.
Kasey Kahne - Photo Credit: Robert Laberge / Getty Images for NASCAR
Kahne on racing at Texas Motor Speedway?I really enjoy racing at Texas! It?s a great facility and with great fans! I?m really looking forward to working with everyone at Turner Motorsports again this weekend. It?s fun going into these races knowing that you are going to be in equipment capable of winning. Mike Shiplett (crew chief) and those guys work hard to make sure of that. I have one win with Great Clips at Texas (2005) and I?d love to get that No. 38 back into victory lane again this weekend!?
Follow the No. 38 team on Twitter! Twitter.com/No38TurnerNNS
Follow Kasey Kahne on Twitter! Twitter.com/KaseyKahne
Follow Brad Sweet on Twitter! Twitter.com/KBradSweet49
Follow Turner Motorsports on Facebook! Facebook.com/TurnerMotorsports
About Great Clips:
Great Clips, Inc. was established in 1982 in Minneapolis. Today, Great Clips has more than 3,000 salons throughout the United States and Canada, making it the world?s largest salon brand. Great Clips salons employ nearly 30,000 stylists who receive ongoing training to learn advanced skills and the latest trends. Make Great Clips your choice for value-priced, high-quality haircare for men, women and children. No appointments needed, and salons are open nights and weekends. And, it?s more convenient than ever with Great Clips? Online Check-In. To check-in online, visit www.greatclips.com or download the app for Android and iPhone. For more information about Great Clips, Inc. or to find a location near you, visit www.greatclips.com.
- Turner Motorsports Press Release
Hendrick Garage: Martinsville
Chrysler to Show Off China-Specific Jeep Wrangler and Chrysler 300C Design Concepts [Beijing Auto Show]
April 6, 2012 at 6:01pm by Alexander Stoklosa
This month?s Beijing auto show will bring the current auto-show season to a close, and it?s there that Chrysler has announced it will show two China-specific design concepts: a Jeep Wrangler and Chrysler 300. The Jeep is themed after the Year of the Dragon and the Chrysler 300C wears several China-inspired touches; both models may be made available to Chinese buyers in the near future.
Chrysler 300C Concept
Chrysler?s 300C design concept (pictured above) is more subtle than the Jeep, and celebrates the brand?s intent to join the Chinese auto market. The exterior gets chrome wheels and a dark-finish grille. Inside, the seats are embossed with ornate ?gusting wind? motifs and receive contrasting-color piping. Finally, the center console features dark-finished wood trim.
Jeep Wrangler Concept
The Jeep Wrangler concept?s treatment joins the Dartz Prombron Black Dragon and Rolls-Royce?s Year of the Dragon Phantom in celebrating 2012?s animal representative from the Chinese zodiac. The black-and-gold Jeep?s upgrades are kind of ridiculous, but they?re also pretty darn cool. Indeed, if a car?s level of awesome can be determined by the number of dragon decals it wears?this is a time-honored C/D metric?then the Year of the Dragon Wrangler is off-the-charts tremendous. There?s a dragon on the hood, a more elaborate one on the underside of the hood, and yet another which snakes its way across the passenger?s-side grab handle on the dashboard. It also gets special lighting and gold touches for both the exterior and interior.
We expect more details and photos of the two design concepts to emerge as we close in on the Beijing show?s press days on April 23 and 24.
Tags: 2012 Beijing auto show, Chrysler, Chrysler 300C, Jeep, Jeep Wrangler |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/C3W6N_aYN50/
Richard Childress Racing Announces Dates for First Pit Crew Training Combine
Richard Childress Racing (RCR)
The one-of-a-kind event, open to experienced pit crew members as well as athletes with a serious passion for developing into full-time pit crew team member, gives participants the opportunity to showcase their athletic talents and learn the necessary skills to help them develop into a well-rounded teammate. Activities will consist of a variety of rigorous agility workouts and physically demanding tests which include mock training programs and real-time simulated pits stops in high-pressure scenarios normally experienced on a weekly basis both on and off the track throughout the course of a full season. Entrants will have the ability to learn from some of the most experienced and respected leaders in the industry on what it takes to prepare your body and develop the necessary mindset for the highest level of motorsports competition.
?This event is an exciting opportunity for anyone with a passion to become a full-time pit crew member with an elite racing organization,? said Eric Wilson, Director of Human Performance at RCR. ?With the right attitude and preparation, this combine could be a vital step towards an athlete?s goal of taking that next step in their career.?
The session on Tuesday, April 10 is scheduled for the positions of jackman and gasman, while the session on Wednesday, April 11 is scheduled for tire carriers and tire changers.
Qualified competitors who are interested should arrive at the RCR campus dressed and ready to work out, and check in at the front desk for instruction. There are no fees associated with the event and it is open to the public.
For additional information on all that?s happening at RCR, please visit http://www.rcrracing.com.
About Richard Childress Racing
Richard Childress Racing (www.rcrracing.com) has earned more than 200 victories and 14 championships, including six in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with the legendary Dale Earnhardt. RCR was the first organization to win championships in the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series. Its current Sprint Cup Series lineup includes Paul Menard (No. 27 Menards Chevrolet), Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Budweiser/Rheem/Jimmy John?s Chevrolet) and Jeff Burton (No. 31 Caterpillar/Wheaties/BB&T Chevrolet). Its Nationwide Series program includes Elliott Sadler (No. 2 One Main Financial Chevrolet), 2011 Camping World Truck Series champion Austin Dillon (No. 3 Advocare/American Ethanol/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet) and Harvick/Brendan Gaughan/Menard/Max Papis (No. 33 South Point Hotel & Casino/Menards/Hunt Brothers Pizza/Armour Brands/Fast Fixin?/ Chevrolet). Tim George Jr./Gaughan/Harvick (No. 2 Potomac Family Dining Group/South Point Hotel & Casino/Kroger/Tide Chevrolet), Joey Coulter (No. 22 RCR/Armour Brands Chevrolet) and 2011 ARCA Racing Series champion Ty Dillon (No.3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet) compete in the 2012 Camping World Truck Series season.
Source: Richard Childress Racing, Press Release
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New York: 1966 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 Convertible reminds us of days long gone
Chevrolet has over a hundred years of heritage from which it can call upon when the right marketing angle presents itself. Like, for instance, when it launches a brand-new Impala for the 2014 model year, as it has just done at the 2012 New York Auto Show. As such, the automaker has brought a mint 1966 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 Convertible to display alongside its new family sedan.
We'll get this right out of the way: the 1966 'Vert has nothing in common with the 2014 sedan, other than its nameplate.
Regardless, it's always fun to ogle over a classic muscle car, and this '66 Impala is, perhaps, the very best of its full-size breed. The 427-cubic-inch V8 was factory rated at 390 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque ? plenty more than necessary to turn those 7.5-inch-wide bias-ply tires into plumes of smoke, and the four-speed manual and 3.55:1 gears mean it's properly equipped for 1960s-style stoplight showdowns.
Check out this classic Impala SS in our high-res image gallery, and before we all get too sentimental for the old times, remember two points: First, as awesome as this machine undoubtedly is, it could never be sold today due to safety and emissions reasons. Second, most of the millions of Impalas sold over the years were much more pedestrian models than this stunning blue SS.
Caveats aside, we want this car rumbling away in our virtual garage. Badly.
Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/04/06/1966-chevrolet-impala-ss-427-convertible-reminds-us-of-days-long/
Video: Acura plays up 2013 RDX's right-sizing with Gulliver ad campaign
The RDX is new for the 2013 model year, so it makes sense that Acura would jump start the vehicle's launch with a new ad campaign. Honda's luxury arm went with the "Gulliver's Travels" theme, which of course demonstrates that the refreshed crossover is big and luxurious, yet not too big. Get it? Gulliver is a giant and yet the RDX is big enough for him... moving on.
Scroll down to watch the pair of 30-second spots. In the first ad, the little people give Gulliver an RDX, and in the second spot they wash it. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of Lilliputians to wash a mid-size luxury CUV.
Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/04/05/acura-plays-up-2013-rdxs-right-sizing-with-gulliver-ad-campaign/
Barclays Center Mysteries: Three Big Unknowns About Arena Transportation
In less than six months, toward the end of September, the Barclays Center will open and throngs of visitors will descend on the streets of Prospect Heights and nearby Brooklyn neighborhoods. While numerous concerts and sports events have already been booked, the transportation picture remains fuzzy even this close to opening day. Three big unknowns:
- The plan to encourage arenagoers to use transit, originally due last December, is now expected in May.
- Developer Forest City Ratner hasn?t revealed the size of the surface parking lot next to the arena, even though construction begins next month.
- The long-closed Carlton Avenue Bridge (below), a key conduit between Prospect Heights and Fort Greene and a critical link in the Brooklyn bike network, is now due to reopen just before the arena debuts, and state officials don?t acknowledge that the bridge is behind schedule.
The Carlton Avenue Bridge has been closed since January 2008 and it's still not clear whether it will re-open in time for the first events at the Barclays Center. Photo: Tracy Collins
The arena location ? next to Brooklyn?s biggest transit hub, with nine subways and the Brooklyn terminus of Long Island Rail Road ? means, as Streetsblog suggested last June, that ?the fundamentals for a smart solution are there.? Indeed, the arena website proclaims, ?Public transit is the fastest, most convenient way to travel here.? A new subway entrance, leading to the plaza outside the arena, is under construction.
It?s not clear, however, how persuasive the inducements to ride transit will be. The promised Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plan for the arena ? which would define transit incentives, catalog nearby parking facilities accessible via shuttle buses, and present a cross-marketing program with local businesses ? is behind schedule. At first, Empire State Development (ESD), the state agency overseeing Atlantic Yards, ?anticipated? that the plan would be available by December 2011. That goal was nudged back to February 2012, and then to May ? limiting the opportunity for public input promised by ESD.
At public meetings in January, representatives of Sam Schwartz Engineering (SSE), Forest City Ratner?s contractor, frustrated some observers by describing their work to date on a transportation plan without getting into specifics. Also unclear is whether transit incentives would be used at events other than Nets games, which could bring 19,000 concert-goers to the arena on some nights.
Similarly, major question marks remain about the enormous surface parking lot planned for the southeast block of the 22-acre Atlantic Yards site. When Atlantic Yards was initially approved, the lot was supposed to hold 944 cars, but the size has since been increased to a potential 1,100 spaces ? aimed mainly at luxury suite holders.
An 1,100-space lot almost certainly would require parking stackers. And with so many cars, it could not contain the landscaping the Department of City Planning requires, such as one tree for every eight vehicles, as pointed out by Atlantic Yards Watch. But the developer need not conform to city standards, because ESD has overridden local zoning.
The Carlton Avenue Bridge is outlined in the red oval; streets in red have been closed.
Forest City Ratner has resisted the idea of meeting those standards ? executive Jane Marshall said in March that ?I understand the desire for people to have something fancy inside the lot? ? but does aim to reduce the number of spaces. The developer?s requests for proposals from potential parking lot operators state there could be a range of spaces, up to 1,100, and the latter would require stackers. ?We?re trying everything we can to avoid that,? Marshall said.
Construction on the lot is set to begin May 1, the state announced last week, but no further information has been released and may not be until after construction starts. Project-related issues get aired in public at the Atlantic Yards District Service Cabinet, which meets about every two months, but the next scheduled meeting is May 3, when the transportation plan should be unveiled.
Then there?s the Carlton Avenue Bridge, which was closed in January 2008 to accommodate reconstruction of the Vanderbilt Yard, used to store and service LIRR trains. The project was originally supposed to take two years, but the contract allowed five years.
If the bridge does not reopen before the arena does, fans driving to the opening day Jay-Z concert on September 28 may turn that section of Prospect Heights into a giant traffic jam, with no outlet to Atlantic Avenue. Every day the bridge is delayed is also a day without a key link for cyclists traveling toward Fort Greene and the Manhattan Bridge.
Forest City Ratner and ESD understandably want to see the bridge finished, but have been papering over the delay. In late January, Forest City construction chief Bob Sanna declared that the bridge was on schedule, and due for completion in early September 2012. That directly contradicted the reports ESD had been getting from its own consultant, STV, which deemed the bridge one month behind schedule.
On March 15, Arana Hankin, ESD?s Atlantic Yards project director, said that the bridge was due by the end of September, and was indeed on schedule. When I asked if STV had ?most recently told you that it is on schedule,? Hankin?s answer was yes. However, STV, in the most recent weekly report available to Hankin, dated March 9, stated that the bridge was ?officially one month behind schedule.?
Asked if she misspoke, Hankin said, ?I did not misspeak. As I mentioned the schedule continues to be updated based on progress in the yard. The bridge will only be considered late if it is not open at the time of the arena opening.?
Excerpt from the March 2 STV report to Empire State Development on the Carlton Avenue Bridge.
For months, the STV weekly reports, as noted in the excerpt above, cited potential time savings from a temporary pier. Only as of March 2 did STV reveal another potential time-saving tactic: opening the bridge before the asphalt is paved, a tactic that suggests bridge work will go down to the wire. The city Department of Transportation, which is monitoring the bridge, did not respond to queries.
If the bridge is not completed on time, the state has minimal penalties to impose. While the bridge reconstruction is part of an ?Arena Opening Condition? required by the Atlantic Yards Development Agreement, failure to meet that condition would only result in the freezing of Forest City Ratner?s rights to move forward on any new residential development. If the bridge can be reopened shortly, that wouldn?t impede Forest City much.
Of course, it won?t be until after the arena opens that its traffic impacts can be judged. SSE and the city are currently conducting a study of pre-opening traffic conditions. Once the transportation plan is implemented, Forest City next year will review its effectiveness.
Meanwhile, local electeds and community groups from the neighborhoods affected by the Barclays Center will keep pushing for policy responses. On March 31, Council Member Letitia James, who represents the Atlantic Yards site, along with fellow City Council members Steve Levin and Brad Lander, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, several neighborhood groups, and Brooklyn Community Board 2, sponsored a workshop on area transportation issues. The event drew about 60 people.
The upshot: The arena is linked to a broad range of issues, from road pricing and curb parking to pedestrian and cyclist safety. Expect a variety of proposals to be forthcoming, after the full impact of the Barclays Center becomes apparent.
Brooklyn journalist Norman Oder writes the Atlantic Yards Report blog.
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