Don't Walk: Crossing Signal Obscured at Atlantic Yards

Pedestrians crossing Atlantic Avenue southbound at Flatbush Avenue are already used to dealing with cars, trucks and construction equipment streaming past one of Brooklyn's busiest thoroughfares.

Now they have to deal with yet another obstacle: black construction netting obscuring a crossing signal at the notoriously tricky intersection.

That means southbound pedestrians such as Crown Heights resident Sandra Marshall crossing Atlantic Avenue at Flatbush were essentially "walking blind"—with the signal at the southeast corner of the intersection either completely or partially covered by the top portion of a construction barrier installed by workers at the .

"It makes you feel like you have a death wish trying to cross here," Marshall said. "I just try to run as fast as I can."

Not every pedestrian had Marshall's gift of speed, however. Cobble Hill resident Mary Dye, pushing daughter Ila in a stroller in front of Atlantic Terminal Mall said she avoided the crossing entirely.

"I would try to find any other way to cross," Dye said.

That could spell big trouble for businesses along the Flatbush Avenue's retail corridor in Prospect Heights—already one of the neighborhoods most affected by , truck traffic and  that residents say is linked to Barclays Center construction.

The intersection is one of the few unimpeded access points for shoppers, commuters and students traveling between Prospect Heights and Fort Greene.

Spokespersons from developer Forest City Ratner, ESDC, the state agency that oversees the project, and the city's Department of Transportation all said they would look into the matter.

Check back for updates.