Judge Eileen Rakower decided New York can move forward with bus improvements that will create a temporary bus lane on 14th street.
A court decision earlier this week cleared the way for construction on an 18-month pilot project that "all but bans cars" on 14th street, in a "major traffic experiment," according to a New York Times article by Winnie Hu published today.
The project will create a busway closed to private cars. Only emergency vehicles, buses, and trucks will be allowed on 14th Street between 3rd and 9th avenues on 14th Street.
"Drivers will be allowed onto the street for just a block or two to make deliveries and pick up and drop off passengers. Then they will have to turn off," according to Wu."
According to Wu, the pilot project reflects a larger trend of cities rethinking the role of cars in the private realm:
The sweeping restrictions come as New York and other cities fundamentally rethink the role of cars in the face of unrelenting traffic that is choking their streets, poisoning the environment and crippling public transit systems by trapping buses and light rail systems in gridlock.
The 14th Street bus project, originally scheduled to start construction in July, cleared a final judicial hurdle earlier this week, reports Ryan Deffenbaugh in a separate article published after the decision. "The state Supreme Court in Manhattan ruled that the city’s Department of Transportation complied with state’s requirement to take a 'hard look' at the impact of its plan to limit cars on the street."
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