Midtown residents claim car restrictions on 34th Street will clog nabes with traffic, worsen their lives
Residents in Midtown Manhattan complain they're getting thrown under the bus by the Adams' administration.
The city Transportation Department is proposing banning or restricting cars on 34th Street by creating a busway to speed up bus commutes and truck deliveries between 3rd and 9th Avenues — provoking outrage from residents who fear rerouted traffic will clog their streets and worsen their lives.
Motorists would be required to avoid the busway from Third Avenue to 9th Avenue altogether.
Other cars or livery drivers who need to enter 34th Street must exit at the next avenue where a turn is permitted.
DOT officials said they want to replicate the success of the so-called busway on 14th Street, which reduced congestion, sped up bus travel and curbed accidents.
But there is a big difference: 34th Street is an access point for entrance and exits for the Midtown and Lincoln tunnels.
Residents in Murray Hill worry that drivers coming out of the Midtown tunnel would be diverted onto their residential local streets.
'It's just going to congest all our side streets,' Murray Hill resident Michael- Ann Rowe said following a June 2 DOT presentation at a Community Board 6 transportation committee meeting last week.
Another resident, Andrew Fine, said, 'the collateral damage will be immense. Please just give it up on this project.'
The Murray HIll Neighborhood Association is going to bat for residents.
'Limiting access for residents and businesses with entrances on 34th Street, while diverting traffic from this critical corridor onto narrow residential streets would lead to increased congestion, safety hazards, and diminished quality of life in the neighborhood' said Jessica Lavoie,' chair of the MHNA's quality of life committee.
There are 28,000 commuters who ride on the MS 34 bus routes and other express routes along the 34th Street corridor daily.
There is as already a dedicated bus lane on 34th Street.
But the average weekday speed for an MTA bus is 5 miles per hour and sometimes as low as 3 MPH, Joseph Chiarmonte, an analyst with the MTA's NYC Transit said.
The transit official said riders on average lose a staggering 750 hours in delays per work day on 34th Street while the buses on 14th Street run 15% faster, with the car ban.
Cross-town traffic on 34th, 42nd and other busy Manhattan corridors has been a vexing problem for decades. The crosstown buses run so slow that this reporter even raced against them years ago.
Nearly half of vehicles on 34th Street — 47% –are headed off Manhattan to the outer boroughs or outside the city, said Rachel Eisenberg, a DOT senior project manager who gave the presentation.
She said DOT will conduct a study of the impact of traffic diversion by restricting car traffic on 34th Street.
But critics said DOT was putting the cart before the horse.
Lavoie, of the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association, said she was 'deeply surprised' CB6's transportation approved the proposed 34th Busway without such an analysis.
'A plan of this magnitude demands a transparent, data-driven review and meaningful community engagement with local residents and businesses before any further action is taken,' she said.
DOT defended the proposal as pro-commuter.
'34th Street is one of the city's busiest crosstown corridors, where 28,000 daily bus riders often face speeds as slow as walking, a major pedestrian hub, and is also one of the connections between the tunnels,' a DOT spokesman said.
'This proposal—supported by all three local community boards—aims to deliver faster, more reliable service, just as we did on 14th Street, where bus speeds rose 24% and crashes dropped 42% with no negative impact on businesses. We welcome community feedback as this process moves forward.'
The car restrictions on 34th Street could be implemented in late summer or fall, the DOT said in its presentation.
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