Having antennas on the Brooklyn Bridge tracking your every movement may give some people reason to pause, but not everyone is convinced it’s a bad idea – especially if it helps alleviate traffic.
“I guess we’re one step closer to getting the tool we think we need to better manage traffic in downtown Brooklyn,” Community Board 2 District Manager Rob Perris told this newspaper this week.
The new antennas are already in place and are designed to work with E-Z Pass transponders carried inside some motor vehicles. According to officials, however, the monitoring devices won’t actually be activated for a couple of weeks.
It’s all part of the “Intelligent Transportation System” run by the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center (LMCCC).
The LMCCC has been around since 2002 and officials there say that the four monitoring devices in place over both sides of the Brooklyn Bridge roadway will help them identify and alleviate congestion around the 190 construction sites in progress below Canal Street.
Nevertheless, folks on this side of the bridge are still hoping that chronic traffic problems here will be positively effected as well.
For the last several years, Perris says Community Board 2 has been pushing for a new traffic model for downtown Brooklyn capable of testing different scenarios to improve traffic flow – but each time has been forced to take a backseat to Manhattan.
“Traffic is not working in downtown Brooklyn, Perris said.
With information the new antennas collect, officials say that they will be able to closely monitor drive times and identify trouble spots.
LMCCC Officials deny that their efforts to monitor cars from the Brooklyn Bridge is in any way related to NYPD efforts to thwart possible terrorist attacks.
“There are potential strategic targets in downtown Brooklyn,” Perris said. “By and large, the community board feels the Police Department has the necessary plans in place to keep us safe.”
