Starting on November 3 Times Square is going to be doing a shuffle. In an attempt to clean up the mess of tourists, cars, vendors, cowboys and other obstacles the Department of Transportation and the Times Square Alliance are going to run a six-month test of a new traffic pattern. The biggest change in the new plan is the shutting down of the traffic lane which allows cars to stay on Seventh Avenue at the "bowtie" on 45th Street. Instead all southbound Seventh Avenue traffic will be forced to go down Broadway. But that's not all!
There'll also be changes for bikers through Times Square. A 5-foot-wide bicycle lane on Seventh between 48th and 43rd will be closed, and new signs will direct cyclists through the area.
Times Square also will lose a bus stop on Seventh between 44th and 43rd. Two other stops on Broadway and Seventh will be moved.
In addition, some sidewalks will be widened and crosswalks will be added to allow 50 percent more pedestrian traffic in the congested hot spot.
Though we're not so happy about losing any bike lanes in the City, we think this sounds like a pretty good idea. Anything to make that area safer for the tourists who fill up the square, not to mention the thousands of office workers trying to get out, is a good thing. And we love that the DOT is doing this as a test rather than a permanent change.
Times Square by Joe Holmes via Contribute.
