An M34A Choose Bus on thirty fourth Road.
Photograph by Ben Brachfeld
Manhattan residents and companies scored some huge transit wins this week.
First, the Division of Transportation and MTA introduced they’d convert the busy, iconic stretch of thirty fourth Road between third and ninth Avenues right into a busway. The road would quickly be restricted to crosstown buses on a route that’s notoriously sluggish and tough for anybody, drivers and pedestrians alike, to navigate due to the near-constant congestion.
When individuals consider thirty fourth Road, Christmas and Santa Claus normally spring to thoughts, but when enacted, the busway may show to be a miracle for Midtown Manhattan that may final all 12 months lengthy.
It’s arduous to underestimate how necessary a stretch thirty fourth Road is, because it hyperlinks collectively the Herald Sq. purchasing district anchored by Macy’s with Penn Station and the bustling space round Madison Sq. Backyard.
The district has lengthy wanted a dependable, fast crosstown mode of transportation, however site visitors alongside the strip makes it not possible for buses to maneuver shortly. The M34, the truth is, has persistently ranked among the many slowest bus routes in New York Metropolis for years.
The thirty fourth Road busway has the potential to lastly clear up the congestion downside and open up the roads to extra foot site visitors and enterprise.
A rendering reveals the proposed pedestrian-focused redesign of fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park, that includes widened sidewalks, new bushes, seating areas and stormwater infrastructurePhoto by Discipline Operations, courtesy of Metropolis Corridor
Likewise, town introduced it will totally fund the transformation of fifth Avenue in Midtown right into a primarily pedestrian boulevard with wider sidewalks and fewer foot site visitors.
Anybody who has walked via fifth Avenue throughout the vacation season can inform you what a nightmare it’s to navigate. The crush of vacationers and buyers, particularly round Rockefeller Middle and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, can take the enjoyment of the season out of you in a heartbeat and go away you feeling overwhelmed and a bit claustrophobic.
The town’s plan, cast in cooperation with native enterprise teams such because the Fifth Avenue Affiliation, the Grand Central Partnership, the Central Park Conservancy and the Bryant Park Company, will rework the long-lasting roadway into a contemporary pedestrian oasis with fewer vehicular site visitors lanes and extra tree-lined buffers, benches, lighting and stormwater infrastructure.
In accordance with Mayor Eric Adams, the $400 million plan can pay for itself inside a couple of years. Regardless of the congestion, fifth Avenue already generates 313,000 direct and oblique jobs and $111.5 billion in annual financial output. Making fifth Avenue extra enticing to pedestrians and companies will solely make this financial candle within the coronary heart of Midtown burn brighter.
Placing pedestrians first is an funding that advantages all New Yorkers and companies. Right here’s hoping town will think about extra busways and pedestrian plazas in different components of the Massive Apple.
Each borough has communities dealing with congestion, too — Jamaica, Queens, Downtown Brooklyn, Concourse within the Bronx, and so on. — that would reap the financial and environmental rewards.
