The Department of Transportation's rapid-fire makeover of Broadway?in which anything equipped with an internal combustion engine is viewed as an enemy of the state?has reached Union Square. Work has kicked off on the north end of the park, with traffic lanes along 17th Street already reduced and pedestrian plazas and bike paths waiting in the wings (hence the paint job placeholder above), which should create more room for the Greenmarket's spillover crowd.
The transformation of Broadway hasn't been without controversy, and the Times dives into the topic today, writing that the Bloomberg administration has turned it into a "narrow passageway with barely more room for cars than a sleepy street in Greenwich Village." That's a good thing, at least according to the transportation nerds who say Broadway was always meant for pedestrians. Drivers, well, they have a different take on the matter.
· Broadway Is Busy, With Pedestrians, if Not Car Traffic [NYT]
· Union Square's New Plaza Sketched [Curbed]
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