Mike’s Broadway Melody
They say there’s less pollution in the air.”
I just made that up! Clever, no? Okay, no. But I’m a little inspired by Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to turn two congested sections of Broadway in Manhattan – arguably the two most famous stretches of what may be the world’s most famous street – into pedestrian walkways. And to this I say...interesting.
Here’s an article in the New York Times,which includes this paragraph:
“Although it seems counterintuitive, officials believe the move will actually improve the overall flow of traffic, because the diagonal path of Broadway tends to disrupt traffic where it intersects with other streets.”
Indeed, the concept of reducing traffic congestion by shutting down big chunks of an extremely busy street --through Herald Square, and further uptown, the heart of Times Square -- seems deeply counterintuitive. People in Boston would say it’s wicked counterintuitive. Mayor Bloomberg, though, who over the years has certainly put in quite a lot of study on the matter of reducing midtown traffic, assures us it will work. He says computer models show travel time on Seventh Avenue, where much of the diverted traffic would have to go, will actually decrease by 17-percent.
Since I never got that civil engineering degree I always dreamed of, and since I haven’t yet created my own computer models, I’m in no position to argue. (Besides less traffic congestion, there are the aesthetic advantages the Mayor cites, including all that room for strolling, shopping, and outdoor dining, less car exhaust pollution, and more safety for tourists/pedestrians.) So I’ll just share a few of my thoughts, and then I’d like to hear yours.
• All the cross streets will remain open. That takes a bit of the charm out of the “promenade” concept; pedestrians will still have to stop at every block walking north/south, and IF those cross streets get packed bumper-to-bumper… well, so much for a peaceful, carbon monoxide-free outdoor meal in the spaces in-between. BUT…
• That also addresses the concerns by taxi drivers that they’ll have trouble picking up and dropping off passengers in the theater district. With every cross street open (and most of the theaters located ON the cross streets) that shouldn’t be a problem.. assuming, again, those streets don’t get gridlocked.
• Midtown traffic really is nightmarishly horrible. Something has to be done, and a bold experiment like this – while certain not to please everyone – deserves a chance. If traffic flow really improves, it could be the win-win Bloomberg is predicting… even for taxi drivers. If it doesn’t work, at least we’ll know.
So with that said, sing me out, Mayor Mike!
More tourists come, from near and far,
And I won’t quit, ‘til there’s no cars on Broadway”
I think I’m getting better at this. What’s that? Still a “no”? Damn!
(P.S. Let me know what you think about the Broadway plan in the comments section below. Just make sure you only click on “Post” once. It takes a few seconds, but, trust me, your comment will be posted. Also, comments disparaging my attempts at comedy are discouraged.)
Comments: 16
It would certainly be a dramatic change in the face of Times Square. Whether the experiment is an aesthetic success I think remains to be seen. It will almost surely be a success for improving the pedestrian experience and traffic flows in the area, though. Every intersection means more traffic delays, so decreasing the number and complexity of intersections is usually an improvement.
Nanjing Road in Shanghai provides an example of a successful pedestrian street. It is fairly vast and consistently crowded with shoppers. It is also a tourist hotspot. Nanjing Road is a simple east-west street, though, not a weird diagonal anomaly in an otherwise regular grid layout, so it remains to be seen whether the Broadway plan will be as easy to execute logistically.
If traffic flow were our main concern, we would best simply get rid of vehicle traffic on Broadway altogether, relying on the avenues for all N-S traffic, and perhaps close off a few E-W streets as additional pedestrian areas.
The last thing this city needs is MORE tourists.
NY is becoming unbearably crowded. Bloomberg is too concerned about bringing more people into the city.
I think this is worth a try! Bottom line, we all want people to enjoy the great city of New York! Traffic is traffic. Nothing is going to really improve NYC's infamous traffic jams. Drivers will find a way around, and eventually, as with all other things implemented into the city, get used to it without much of a fuss. More power to NYC as we find creative ways to boost tourism and stay current with all the great cities of this nation.
Driving in New York City is already a hassle. Mayor Bloomberg's bike routes are a major cause of traffic in the Downtown Area. Let alone from this, how many bikers actually follow these bike routes laid out? The population in New York City, will only increase and therefore, there will always be cars and there will always be pedestrians. If 42nd Street closes a lane, where will all the cars end up? In the end, it doesn't exactly help the flow of traffic, instead it only causes a bigger mess.
What Mayor Bloomberg is doing isn't exactly changing the flow of traffic for the greater good. Instead of actually getting rid of the problem, he is tossing it under a rug and ignoring the general idea.
Mayor Bloomberg ranted on about planting trees all over New York City and promoting the whole "Go Green" slogan. How are you going green if there's so much traffic congestion caused by your own doings?!
I think it's great the fact that they can fine tune lights on Sixth Ave. It always to packed in the Times Square area anyway. This will make it a new place to hang that has a nice view of the new permanent new years eve ball. The ball will be lit every night.
This will be great for the city overall.
I agree with Anonymous #2 in one respect -- this may be one of the rare times when pedestrians have squeezed out cars, not the other way around. But that's an overwhelmingly positive thing. I've seen pedestrianized districts in lots of European cities -- Madrid and Munich would be two favorite examples -- and they really work, both as an economic proposition and as a shoe-leather proposition. New York is a world-class city and we deserve a walkable city-center district. I think this experiment will succeed, that it will be hugely influential, that it will have thousands of happy people walking from Times Square to Macy's, that the city will benefit hugely, and that this is truly a taste of a much better future for NYC.
Too many cars and noise in Time Square?
Get over it! You are in the center of a mega city, the "city of the world", what do you expect??
I think when you go around that area, or even live there, you know that is the price to pay.
It is just like some geniuses want to get more cars off from street and move them to the subway station. First, I don't think the often troubled subway system can afford the increase flow of people. Second, I think it is funny that people are upset about the traffic on the street. Dude, you are in a big city! You don't want the traffic in city?
There is an easy solution: move out! There are plenty of quiet places outside of the city. America is big, you know. I mean, outside of Manhattan, even just outside of midtown, would be a lot less traffic already.
This plan by Bloomberg is another one of his terrible ideas that will have dire consequences. We have seen that he and his administration had made a mess in downtown Manhattan by putting bicycles lanes along Grand Street running west to east. This caused a major congestion. Since there is only one driving lane crawling thru the heart of Chinatown and Little Italy, where there were once two driving lanes. It is very frustrating sitting in traffic starring at the empty bicycle lane. In addition, he put bus lane on Broadway running from Houston Street to downtown City Hall. Once again turning what was once a two lane driving street into a single driving lane. The bus lane is affective from the hours of 6 AM to 7 PM ( how ridicules is that, since majority of the busy time for bus traveling are early in the morning to deliver commuters in to the city and late in the day when the buses bring commuters out of the city). In a single driving lane with taxies and delivery trucks making frequent stops only clog up and choke traffic to a craw. It does not take a billionaire to know that if you lined a major artery with plaque that blood will be restricted to flow. I have seen some very poor planning by the city under Bloomberg leadership. It became cleared to me that the city has become his experiment and that he is not a person of leadership. Now he wants to experiment with the crosswalk of the world in time square. Not a good idea
For all the people complaining about the empty bicycle lanes: why don't you bike then instead of sitting in your car in traffic? You'd obviously get to where you want to go much faster.
As for the claim that this plan will increase congestion in Times Square, well, you'll just have to wait and see.
Obviously there are downsides to every plan, but since there are vastly more pedestrians than cars in Manhattan (even with as many cars as there are), it would make sense to give pedestrians preferential treatment. That said, this particular plan will likely benefit both pedestrians and motorists.
The fact that New York is a very compact and very busy city is exactly why you shouldn't drive in it unless absolutely necessary. Your SUV takes up valuable real estate in a city where real estate is expensive ;-).
Creating more roads and more lanes doesn't ease congestion, it simply makes the road system more complicated, and thus often more congested. Likewise, simplifying the road system, like this plan does, has the potential to reduce congestion, not to mention give pedestrians more safe space.
Remember, everyone is a pedestrian once they get out of their car.
Any plan that might help the city have less traffic is fine in my book. Mayor Bloomberg knows his "stuff", so it should be tried out and soon.
I wonder what will happen to the pedicabs? It's tough to get a regular cab, much less walk around that area of the city.
I love the city and I think it would take a miracle to see less congestion abound. Mayor Mike can help us, so let's give his ideas a chance.
Lee
In Europe, they drive and park like maniacs and somehow it seems to work.
Jim, listening to you and kaity talk after a story, I just have one thing to say. Keep your opinions to yourself.
When you and your co-workers, especially from other new york stations, say something after a story its pathetic. You get paid reporting on other peoples problems and get very over paid for it. Like six, seven and in some cases eight figure salaries
.
Then you all complain about making it to the weekend, oh gee
is the gigantic paycheck not insentive enough to go to work, which for you is 1 hour of reading a script off of a prompter
Jim, loved your riff on the George Benson "Broadway" song. I've been stuck in that Times Square traffic nightmare a million times STRESS behind the wheel!
Speaking of stress, Mr. Anonymous above me should get a grip - not a GRIPE. He's lumping the ad-libs of every New York anchor into one big criticism. You and Kaity always stand out as making intelligent ad-libs, or truly funny ad-libs, that show your command of the information in the context of New York Freakin' City. This is a City of smart, observant people. You want 'droid newscasts, Mr. Anonymous? Move to Kansas.
And since you have such strong opinions, why not give us your name so's we can all quote you?
Stay out of traffic, now......
Laurie on Rt. 287
PS Jim, I love you sense of humor! Keep it coming!
I think that this is a very interesting idea, but it does concern me a bit because this is one of the main streets in NYC. I really do hope it works because it would be really nice to just be able to walk around pretty much anywhere you please in Times Square.
Btw. Mr. Anonymous up there needs to get a life and stop hating.He has no idea and it looks like he or she never will have any idea atleast not wit that attitude. What a looser!
Great sense of Humor Jim! lol :)
A.P