MAYOR GIULIANI AND POLICE COMMISSIONER SAFIR UNVEIL NEW PILOT PLAN AIMED AT EASING HOLIDAY TRAFFIC IN MIDTOWN AREA
-Plan To Focus On Speeding East- And West- Bound Traffic While Increasing Pedestrian Safety-
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Police Commissioner Howard Safir today unveiled a new pilot plan aimed at easing Holiday traffic and improving pedestrian safety in the Midtown Manhattan area. The pilot program, which complements the Department's existing Holiday Traffic Initiative, will speed the flow of east- and west-bound traffic by rerouting pedestrian walking patterns at key intersections in Midtown's most heavily congested areas.
The new pilot plan calls for curbing pedestrian traffic on the 49th and 50th Street intersections from Lexington to Sixth Avenues to improve overall traffic flow. Police officials said that heavy pedestrian traffic throughout the City often causes gridlock and traffic stoppage as vehicles, particularly trucks and buses, turn onto the area's main avenues. The pilot plan consists of barrier placement and the stationing of uniformed officers at key intersections in the targeted area. At each of these intersections, pedestrians will be diverted away from the path of vehicles making right or left turns onto major avenues to prevent them from having to dodge oncoming cars as turning onto such major avenues as Fifth and Sixth Avenues. (See attached charts.)
The Mayor and Police Commissioner said that the minor inconvenience to pedestrians is necessary because of the significant increase in the number of pedestrian and vehicular traffic in our City over the last four years. In addition to improving vehicular traffic flow, the Mayor and Police Commissioner also said the changes will improve the level of safety for pedestrians as they cross these heavily congested intersections.
"From safer and cleaner streets to our thriving economy, New York City is undergoing the biggest revival in its history," Mayor Giuliani said. "And that means more and more people worldwide are flocking to New York City to work, to visit and to live. The heavy increase in pedestrian and vehicular traffic, however, brings new challenges. This pilot plan will build on earlier traffic control efforts by focusing on smoothing east to west traffic, which is so often the cause of midtown traffic congestion as vehicles attempt to turn onto our major avenues."
Police Commissioner Safir said, "This new pilot plan will have a significant impact on traffic flow in this targeted area, while, at the same time, increasing the level of safety for the increased number of pedestrians enjoying the sights and sounds of Midtown."
The pilot plan, which began yesterday, will continue through Monday, January 5, 1998. Officials said the plan will be carefully monitored throughout the Holiday season to fully determine its feasibility as part of the Department's continued traffic control efforts.
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