Cars Get Shaft In DOT's 34th St. Pedestrian, Transitway Plan

As promised, the DOT is moving quickly on a plan to radically transform 34th Street to prioritize buses and pedestrians over passenger cars. The proposal [pdf], which was completed at the end of February, would essentially cut 34th Street in half, with the section west of Sixth Avenue running one way toward the Hudson River, and the section east of Fifth Avenue running one way toward the East River. Buses would travel in both directions in their own special lanes, and in the middle there will be another pedestrian plaza on the block between Fifth and Sixth, the part of town informally known as Clusterfuck City.

"It’s going to improve the mobility along the corridor," NYC DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan tells the Times. "We expect the bus travel times to improve by up to 35 percent, which is something that up to 33,000 passengers that currently travel crosstown will appreciate." Sadik-Khan points to a study showing that only 10 percent of people traveling along 34th Street use cars or taxis, while the rest walk or use public transportation. Thus, faster bus service will benefit "the majority of the people who are actually using the street."

As part of the "Transitway" plan, bus passengers would be able to buy tickets at sidewalk kiosks, and buses would be equipped with devices that signal traffic lights to remain green as the bus approaches an intersection. The DOT is meeting with the Community Board 6 transportation committee on May 3rd, and expects the project to be completed by the end of 2012, to the tune of $30 million.

Naturally, there are concerns. At a public hearing last night, one woman who resides on 34th Street descried the plan because it might block the loading zone for her building and make it less convenient for her to get deliveries. Local merchants are currently contemplating the proposal, and Dan Biederman, president of the 34th Street Partnership, supports it "for the most part." But he's warning fellow business owners to "please complain right now, or within the next few weeks. This is not your father’s D.O.T. This agency says they do something and they do it." Crazy, right?

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By John Del Signore in News on April 23, 2010 9:26 AM

Comments [rss]

Tower18

Congestion and density are two different things. The density of people, and different kinds of people, all sharing space and ideas is what makes New York great. Congestion is an unfortunate and not-always-necessary byproduct of density, and DOES NOT make New York great.

Density=good

Excessive Congestion=bad

They don't need to go together.

snessnyc

Someone who actually understands urban dynamics and why this is a great idea and something that we should try? Shame on you for making sense! You should be forever banned from commenting on Gothamist.

John L

What is happening to New York? I've lived here all my life and I think that if you choose to live here there are some things that you have to accept, for example crowded streets, whoever doesn't like it should choose a suburban area to live in. It seems to me that the things that made this city great are being attacked one by one and I'm afraid of what we'll have left. From the closing of all the mom and pop stores to make room for franchises to these enormous ugly high rises, what will we be left with? The very character that made this city great is being erased. Walk twenty blocks anywhere in Manhattan and you'll run into the same franchises and superstores over and over. I'm all up for IMPROVEMENT but let's not change the fabric of this city. $30 Million would go a long way in improving this city and at this moment I believe crime needs to be priority number 1 in this city. Crime is on the rise again and that is unacceptable. I can't understand how the city can be spending money on these silly pet projects at a time like this. There should be a freeze on all non-essential expenditures such as these and use that money towards hiring more police officers, teachers, etc. stop closing firehouses, save the after school programs, invest in our future leaders' education. Let's try to save St. Vincent's Hospital instead building another skyscraper that will house another few thousand people. I can't believe how we're going to let a full equipped medical facility become another housing complex, without a fight. What's wrong with New York? New York is one of the major metropolitans in the world and that means there will always be congestion, it's a simple fact. This congestion is what made New York the great city that it is, if you keep changing the things that made this city what it is then what will New York look like in twenty or thirty years? Who's going to come and visit this city then? To be honest there's a lot of "prettier" cities to visit but that's not why tourist come here. Tourist come here to experience the hustle and bustle of New York City, what happens when we remove that "experience"? As far as the people who live here, I've lived here all my life and I LOVE NEW YORK, warts and all, whoever doesn't like I suggest you move to Jersey, then you can walk all you want, ride your bicycles etc, but here in New York you're going to bump into people, squeeze on to subways and buses, run into vendors selling everything under the sun, get almost ran over by a cab then a bike messenger, all in a New York minute! I love it!

SAVE NEW YORK!

It Took A Village

While I agree that congestion can be a sign of health, there are many kinds of congestion and automotive congestion is not what "made New York," it is one of the things that has been killing it. The essential nature of New York - what has attracted and impressed since the Dutch - is street life, exactly the kind of pedestrian sidewalk sprawl this plan forwards. New York has long been a dense place, but there is a critical difference in scale between pedestrian (and bicycle or once, horse cart) density and auto density. Cars kill streets and cities and led to NYC long decline in the second half of the 20th century. This plan and the others like it from DOT finally bring us relief from this anti-NYC suburban scourge and let our city reclaim its destiny of density.

horseplay

Agreed agreed agreed! What going on in nyc is, everything wrong! The whole feeling of nyc is gone, the culture is long gone, everything that once represented nyc is gone. The only people who are amused with these ignorant and bland changes are ofcourse tourists and transplants who know nothing about nyc and werent in nyc up until the past few years and want to call themselvs NY'ers (wannabees). This whole thing started with giuliani who dedicated everything to tourists, and along came billionare BLOOMTURD who is continuing to aid in the nyc give away to tourists with every new development and idea which revolvs around tourism and luxury high class which the average "real NY'ers" cant afford. Nyc is being auctioned off to the rich at a disturbing rate. Naive people who see nothing wrong, probably wont until the next 10 years or so when "they also" are forced out of the city for failing to keep up with the lavish billionare way of living, which is the path that nyc obviously seem to be heading... Adios nyc! Make way for the billionare club and all the fancy rich tourist attractions that awaits

It Took A Village

Excuse me, it is exactly Giuliani's pro-car, anti-people and pro-suburbanite anti-resident policies being overturned by the DOT in this and other projects. I understand you have a bone to pick with Bloomberg, but this is one of the things he got right be reversing course and bucking the one of the most entitled interest groups around. Give the devil his due and save your shouting for issues where he really is working against the little guy. Zinging him on one of the occasions when he is playing populist by giving the people what they want is just silly.

mingusahum

tourism supports over 300,000 jobs and creates enough tax revenue to save $1300 per person.

yes they can be annoying, especially around broadway south of houston (i find times square to be pretty tolerable now that the street is closed off), but they bring us a lot of money -> pay for schools, public services, etc.

mingusahum

I applaud your enthusiasm but you contradict yourself a few times:

"I believe crime needs to be priority number 1 in this city. Crime is on the rise again and that is unacceptable."

There's been a slight up-tick in crime this year, but its still down over 75% since '93. I know that overall crime is hard to quantify, but we can agree that it has become a lot safer in NY over the past twenty years.

"Let's try to save St. Vincent's Hospital instead building another skyscraper that will house another few thousand people."

While developers may get tax breaks, sometimes unfair ones, the city is not building skyscrapers.

"This congestion is what made New York the great city that it is"

I politely disagree.

"if you keep changing the things that made this city what it is then what will New York look like in twenty or thirty years? Who's going to come and visit this city then?"

The city is constantly changing, I work in the city's tourism office and can tell you that we are expecting record visitation numbers (around 50mil) in each of the next two years (compared to just 30mil before 9/11).

"Tourist come here to experience the hustle and bustle of New York City"

Tourists come here to visit the world class cultural institutions, restaurants, history, not traffic.

Overall people want to experience what the city has to offer, not be stuck trying to get to what the city has to offer. Lets allow the people that visit and the people that live here to get around faster and see more, experience more, and be happier with their city.

That said I don't really have an opinion on the project, I only visit the area once in a while to get korean food...

ItchyGoiter

What will happen to all the extra car/truck traffic? The one-lane side streets won't be able to handle it, especially if trucks have to use them. Double-parked cars will halt traffic completely as soon as a truck is unable to pass them.

krinkle cut fires

I personally wish they would close St Marks Pl

grapesodey

i'd love to see this proposal become reality...and i'd love to see it happen on 42nd street as well!

satanslaundromat

Great project. The epidemic of parking in the newly painted bus lanes on this street makes it clear that selfish drivers can't be trusted to obey the law. Finally, we'll get physical separation so that the masses can move east-west quickly on buses. This will make buses more functional, more attractive, and enable mass mobility in a way that private cars never can.

entropone

lol. too frequently, they're cop cars.

thefacts

What's going on here?

The DOT is actually reaching out to the community well in advance before implementing a proposal? A proposal that makes some sense?

Is this a belated April Fool's joke? Or, is DOT finally getting the message?

entropone

you're joking?

despite what the occasional hothead who wants to get a quote in the NYPost says, there's always some sort of community outreach. DOT is constantly bringing proposals to community boards. It may be an imperfect system, but the DOT does it.

Spirit of 76

You apparently don't usually read comments from "thefacts." He's always talking about how "Diktator Sadik-Khan" and her evil DOT minions run roughshod over community boards whose politically appointed members he swears were "elected" to represent the community, meanwhile turning NYC into Boise, Idaho.

xgeyiph772

"thefacts" knows everything about everything that happens in NYC, and is ALWAYS right on every subject EVER. Once you get acclimated to that fact, it's much easier to deal with him. Or just ignore him, which I find a lot more enjoyable.

thefacts

Looks like you just broke your own rule, silly boy.

Thanks for referencing me.

CR

It would appear from picture 4 that asphalt will be replaced with hardwood-flooring, which seems excessive.

Atomische

The plan for this short stretch of 34th St. would be perfect if they eliminated those few parking spots altogether. Then it would be easier for that lady to get the deliveries she so deserves.