Yesterday, the first business day after the city closed parts of Broadway to cars, traffic still flowed without the disastrous effects that cabbies and drivers ominously claimed would cripple all of Midtown. While its too early to assess the traffic impacts for the inevitable tweaks, the nascent project appears to be a success so far on the human front with more people taking a respite from crowded sidewalks in the new car-free space. |NYT|
With temporary bollards to ward off traffic and new street furniture to entice people off the sidewalk, parts of Broadway went car-free on Sunday. New Yorkers and tourists alike filled the newly pedestrianized spaces stretching seven blocks through Times Square and Herald Square. Contrasting the overwhelming support from people enjoying the public space, critics in cars bashed the change. “I think it’s really stupid. It’s going to mess up all the traffic in midtown,” one cabbie claimed. Read more »
Back in February, New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan unveiled plans to pedestrianize large swaths of Broadway. These new car-free spaces in Times Square and Herald Square are expected to not only give people more safe public space to enjoy, but move motor vehicle traffic more efficiently too—that’s the plan at least. Read more »
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