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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

A brilliant idea for Broadway

Okay, I'm a civic-minded Queens resident with no engineering background, so maybe this won't work at all. But they tell me that Broadway in Manhattan is not up to federal highway standards, and they want to redo it.
Cross-Midtown Tunnel
My plan is simple: dig a "Cross-Midtown Tunnel" from Columbus Circle to Union Square. This will replace all the capacity that has been removed from Broadway over the past three years. I'm sure Allen Swerdlowe will love it because it will discourage traffic-enraged drivers from skipping off the highway to drive on local streets.

Given the Post's reactions to the changes that have been made on Broadway, I'm guessing they'll love my visionary plan. Sam Staley will adore it. It will have a place in Ben Kabak's ideal world. Sure, it'll have to be dug deep to bypass all the subway tunnels. But we'll throw in a few bucks to paint some buses and call it "BRT" so the transit people won't mind spending billions on this.

After all, if you agree with the State DOT that car capacity must be preserved at all costs on the BQE, then of course you agree with Michael Grynbaum that car capacity must be preserved at all costs on Broadway. Right?
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5 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 8, 2010 at 12:51 AM

    Ok, I'll play Simplicio--"But the BQE isn't Broadway! If you eliminate capacity on the BQE, where will the cars go? Drivers might be forced to alter their route and use different roads, or even (gasp) take transit!"

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  2. capt subwaySeptember 8, 2010 at 12:11 PM

    The NY TIMES likes to think of itself as the voice of reason and a "thinking" person's paper in a field dominated by tub thumping, hysterical tabloid rags. But its transportation POV is squarely and consistently in the camp of the likes of Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and all the rest of the right wing tea party wackos: more cars, more roads, more free parking, more sprawl, screw the pedestrian, screw the bicyclist and screw the public transit rider - let's make the world safe for big oil.

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  3. George KSeptember 8, 2010 at 6:30 PM

    All I can say is: wow.

    A tunnel from Colombus Circle to Union Square that will send traffic into local streets at both ends. Not to mention that, as you said about the G train, it will compete directly with the Broadway Line and discourage the use of public transportation in that corridor.

    Brilliant.

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  4. Cap'n TransitSeptember 8, 2010 at 11:29 PM

    Absolutely, Capt. The News is much more progressive than the Times on these issues.

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  5. AnonymousSeptember 9, 2010 at 5:13 AM

    I think we should go forward with closing Broadway completely, and NOT replace it. Instead let's institute congestion pricing to keep the cars out!

    Check out my blog and a related piece I posted http://theguardrailblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/with-or-without-cars-broadway-still.html

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