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Manhattan, NY - Bloomberg: Midtown Street Closure Helped the Traffic Problem |
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Manhattan, NY - Mayor Bloomberg said today that the city's plan to close stretches of Sixth and Seventh avenues to cars and convert them to pedestrian malls has actually helped traffic.
"It is summertime in a down economy, so you've got to be a little bit careful and say if it works today will it work tomorrow?" Bloomberg said on his radio show.
"I think the first numbers are traffic on Seventh and Sixth is much better than before. Broadway really didn't have much traffic on it before because it's already been down to two lanes."
Over the Memorial Day weekend, the city closed stretches of Midtown -- including Broadway -- to cars and trucks.
Under the plan, the Department of Transportation added 66 percent more green-light time on Sixth Avenue going across West 34th Street, a jump from 32 to 54 seconds.
How it ultimately impacts local businesses remains to be seen.
"It is going to be different," said Bloomberg. "Some businesses will benefit and some businesses won't. I think cab drivers in the end will like this because they make money moving not stuck in traffic."
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Read Comments (6) — Post Yours »
1
Jun 05, 2009 at 04:56 PM Anonymous Says:
I don't understand how this works. There are too many cars for the streets in manhatten, so they closed down 2 long stretches of road. How does that decrease traffic on the other streets? Where does the traffic that was on those streets go if not to other streets, making them more congested?
2
Jun 05, 2009 at 04:48 PM Says:
TMr. Bumberg. Of course it helps traffic. No one is driving a car in NY anymore with all tickets,fines, tolls, towing and inreased sales tax why shop in NYC. In NJ everything is cheaper. You can park, drive around with no bike lanes, pay less sales tax.
3
Jun 05, 2009 at 06:09 PM yn Says:
Yeah right! That's why it took me 2 hours to get to brooklyn. The traffic was worse.
4
Jun 05, 2009 at 06:44 PM Anonymous Says:
This guy is amazing !!!!!
He wakes up every day thinking how can I say or do something even dumber from what I did yesterday,
so he comes up with this stupid idea to close times square
but Bloomberg is not done yet, when ask about the traffic he sees an opportunity to say something even dumber then the closing of times square itself
“traffic is much better since closing times square “
this guy never seems to amaze me
5
Jun 05, 2009 at 07:10 PM Anonymous Says:
Is it the longer time for the green light that helped or closing the street helped ?
6
Jun 07, 2009 at 12:18 PM Anonymous Says:
I have a new suggestion: Perhaps close 2 lanes on the West Side Highway & FDR Drive to allow more pedestrians, runners and bikers enjoy the city views.