By David H. Ellis
The Woolco building in the background will soon be torn down for a new five-story office building.
If the path to hipness leads to the Meatpacking District, members of Community Board 2 anticipate that a planned traffic study of the neighborhood might remedy the congestion, parking and noise that have resulted from the throngs of partygoers that come to the chic West Side neighborhood every weekend.
Pointing to the surge in vehicular and foot traffic and a needed assessment of the area’s traffic patterns due to the neighborhood’s growth, board members believe that a study of the jumbled cobblestone streets is warranted.
“The overall issue is the amount of noise and traffic that has suddenly inundated the area in a rapid fashion,” said Brad Hoylman, Board 2’s Traffic and Transportation Committee chairperson. “Folks in the community are right in thinking there need to be some strategic decisions made to stem crowding, traffic and noise.”
Although the city’s Department of Transportation has not been able to promise a comprehensive study, Board 2’s district manager, Art Strickler, said that the agency has indicated they hope to conduct a piecemeal street analysis of the area between 14th and Gansevoort Sts. between Hudson St. and the Hudson River. No indications have been made when the study will begin or how long it will take. Pointing to the troublesome five-way Gansevoort Square and the W. 13th and Hudson Sts. intersection, Board 2 has recommended that D.O.T. examine the possibility of adding traffic lights and stop signs, while Strickler indicated that more cross walks and parking regulations are also necessary to ensure safety in the area.
“It’s like the Wild West there now,” said Strickler. “You have cars double- and triple-parked, taxi cabs lined up and limos blocking the streets. What if an ambulance or fire truck has to be there? I’m not a traffic expert, but I know a problem when I see it.”
