{"id":113913319,"date":"2008-08-11T10:35:19","date_gmt":"2008-08-11T10:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=113913319"},"modified":"2008-08-11T10:35:19","modified_gmt":"2008-08-11T10:35:19","slug":"will-car-free-summer-streets-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=113913319","title":{"rendered":"Will Car-Free \u2018Summer Streets\u2019 Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sewell Chan
\nThe city\u2019s Summer Streets program will have its debut Saturday morning. The Bloomberg administration plans to bar motor vehicles from a 6.9-mile north-south route in Manhattan for six hours each on three consecutive Saturdays. In an interview this morning with Fox 5, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg expressed hope \u2014 but not certainty \u2014 that the event would be a success:
\nCars are important, but streets are there for everybody. And we\u2019re going to try, for three days in a row \u2013 three Saturdays in a row \u2013 to see if the public wants to go out in the streets and reconnect with each other and bicycle and skateboard and walk and kibbitz and maybe a lot of restaurants will put tables out \u2013 something different.
\nHe added, \u201cThis has been done in Bogot\u00e1 for 30 years. They love it. It\u2019s phenomenally popular and it probably will work here. If it doesn\u2019t, at least we\u2019ll have tried.\u201d
\n
\nThe route will be closed to vehicles from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Aug. 9, 16 and 23. It will go from East 72nd Street \u2014 down Park Avenue, Fourth Avenue, Lafayette Street and finally Centre Street \u2014 to City Hall.
\nAt most points, drivers will be barred from crossing the route. They may do so only at 24 cross streets that will be fully open, including major thoroughfares, like 42nd, 34th, 23rd, 14th and Houston Streets; East 72nd Street, at the northern terminus of the route, and Chambers Street, at the southern end.
\nThe advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, which has become increasingly influential in shaping the Bloomberg administration\u2019s transportation policy, will provide escorted bike rides to Summer Streets tomorrow from Astoria, Queens and Bedford-Stuyvesant and Park Slope, in Brooklyn.
\nThree rest stops will offer cultural and fitness programs, and places to relax: East 51st Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, East 24th Street between Park and Madison Avenues and Cleveland Place between Spring and Kenmare Streets.
\nHow will the city assess whether the program works? Officials haven\u2019t been all that clear on that point.
\nCertainly, preventing traffic chaos is a big part of it. Janette Sadik-Khan, the city\u2019s transportation commissioner, said this morning that the city would deploy about 800 police officers to close off streets and divert traffic. Notices on the affected roads were made overnight, and businesses all along the Summer Streets route have been put on notice, too, she said.
\nThe economic impact is also uncertain.
\nMs. Sadik-Khan said she thought Summer Streets would actually help the economy. \u201cWe think this is going to be a win for residents and for visitors and a win for businesses along the corridor that will benefit from the additional foot traffic of thousands of people being out,\u201d she said.
\nFinally, perhaps, there is the question of how many people will show up. Right now, that seems to be anybody\u2019s guess.
\nWhen the mayor announced the program back in June, he was joined by the cyclist Lance Armstrong and the musician David Byrne. Will similarly high-profile visitors grace the car-free streets of Park Avenue tomorrow?
\nhttps:\/\/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com\/2008\/08\/08\/will-summer-streets-work-2\/<\/a>
\nRelated: https:\/\/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com\/2008\/06\/16\/will-summer-streets-work\/<\/a>oldId.2008081110351981<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sewell Chan The city\u2019s Summer Streets program will have its debut Saturday morning. The Bloomberg administration plans to bar motor vehicles from a 6.9-mile north-south route in Manhattan for six hours each on three consecutive Saturdays. In an interview this morning with Fox 5, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg expressed hope \u2014 but not certainty … <\/p>\n

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