The North Shore casino developer is upset about another delay in the master plan vote by the city planning commission, saying the company has done its best to address concerns, many of which involve traffic.

But PITG Gaming LLC isn't the only one upset about the planning for the Majestic Star casino. Steelers President Art Rooney II said yesterday he's unhappy the casino's impact on game day traffic at Heinz Field won't be analyzed as part of an expanded traffic study.

In an interview, he said the Steelers would consider a lawsuit if planners approve the casino master plan without studying the impact on events at Heinz Field.

He said the team has been told the casino's impact on Steelers traffic won't be analyzed until after the slots palace opens. The casino will be built between Carnegie Science Center and the West End Bridge.

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"That means we could go through a couple of years of disaster, potential disaster, before we decide how to fix it. That doesn't make any sense to me," he said.

Planning commission members were expected to consider the master plan at their meeting Tuesday. They delayed a vote two weeks ago to await the results of an expanded traffic study. They now won't consider the master plan until May 29.

The delay angered PITG Gaming spokesman Bob Oltmanns, who said the casino has "moved heaven and earth" to comply with city requests.

"We frankly don't understand the reason for [the delay]," he said. "We have time and again delivered to city planning everything they have asked for from us. We demonstrated time and again our willingness to meet with and address any issues brought forward about the project and have repeatedly been pushed back in spite of all of that."

He said PITG Gaming, headed by Don Barden, wants to be in position to start construction once the state Supreme Court rules on appeals challenging the award of the Pittsburgh license. The court will hear arguments next week. Mr. Barden hopes to open the Majestic Star in summer 2008.

"The longer the city process is delayed, the more complex that whole scenario becomes," Mr. Oltmanns said.

City transportation planner Sidney Kaikai said he needed the extra time to review a revised traffic study submitted by PITG Gaming last Friday. He said it was "just physically impossible" to review the data and prepare reports for the planning commission by Tuesday.

He said he doesn't envision further delays, adding that Mayor Luke Ravenstahl wants to move the process along as quickly as possible.

"We have a road map we are following. My boss is keenly involved in what is going on. He wants us to do our due diligence and work as best we can to meet the stakeholders halfway to try to accommodate everyone's wishes," Mr. Kaikai said.

One stakeholder that doesn't feel accommodated is the Steelers. The team has repeatedly raised concerns about the casino's impact on traffic to and from Heinz Field and has been pushing for months for a comprehensive study to address that issue, to no avail.

Mr. Kaikai said there would be no comprehensive study of the game day situation as part of master plan approval.

Mr. Rooney said the team is growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of attention to the issue. He and Mark Hart, Steelers director of business, said it was unheard of that planners would wait until after the casino has opened to study such impacts.

"If we don't get some kind of breakthrough in terms of what's going to be studied or at least an acknowledgement that event day traffic has to be studied and planned for and improvements made where necessary ... obviously we've got to look at it from a legal point of view in terms of how we respond to the process," Mr. Rooney said.

Mr. Kaikai said there simply isn't enough time at this point to accommodate such a comprehensive study if the casino is to stay on track for a summer 2008 opening.

He said the original Majestic Star traffic impact study did have some information relating to game day events and that the revised study provided even more. He said the city's consultant, Wilbur Smith Associates, is comfortable with that work.

To address concerns, the city hopes to find ways to separate Majestic Star traffic from Steelers traffic on game days and better accommodate pedestrians, one of the issues raised by the Carnegie Science Center.

Mr. Kaikai said such a plan likely will be a condition of master plan approval. He added there will be numerous chances to fine-tune casino-related issues through the various project approvals needed before opening day.

"We've got a lot of opportunities to make things right if we don't get it completely right the first time," he said.

PITG Gaming officials have noted that the Steelers and Pirates received project development approvals from the planning commission for Heinz Field and PNC Park before traffic management plans were done.

Mr. Rooney said that was a "very different situation" because teams and planners had a pretty good idea of what to expect because Three Rivers Stadium was in the same general location.

"It wasn't like we were bringing a brand-new project into the area that people didn't understand what the potential impact could be," he said.