MURRAY HILL, NY (WPIX)—
Call it Bloomberg's-one-way-or-the-highway. People who live and work along 34th Street are not happy with a new controversial plan to radically redesign how traffic moves on 34th StreetThe proposal includes a pedestrian plaza that would be created between Fifth and Sixth Avenues where cars and trucks would not be allowed.
Cars and trucks would only be able to go west from 6th Ave, and east from 5th Ave., but buses would be able to travel in both directions. Barriers would stand between bus lanes and the sidewalks.The new plan is designed to shave four minutes off of the cross town commute.
Many Murray Hill business and restaurant owners fear for their livelihood, however, anticipating the change may turn their neighborhood into a miniature highway to other areas.
Timothy Hughes is part of the newly formed 34th Street Transit Action Committee, "I'd like to have access to my street, I don't think that an arrogant or selfish request, I'd like to get to my home safely and without having to hurdle a bunch of bus lanes."
Many fear other more residential streets like 33rd and 35th Streets would suffer. Fred Arcaro heads up the Public Safety, Environment and Transportation Committee for the local Community Board, "When you're gonna have gridlock in a lot of these intersections, it only adds to the pollution, it only adds to the noise."
Businesses in Murray Hill say they don't want the city to make it tougher for people to get to them, all so bus riders can save 4 minutes. Pamela Wiznitzer works at XII Bar on 34th Street, "You have to think about all the other people who use their cars as transportation and people in cabs."
The other side is the DOT says 34th Street's the busiest, the busses are the slowest and the population is growing. Spokesperson Seth Solomonow says "No design is final as we continue to work with the community on a plan that addresses the serious issues facing 34th Street's 33,000 daily bus riders while accommodating block-by-block needs."
