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?
