BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC | Financial District Committee members pushed for some sort of timetable on whether or not a left turn from West. St onto Albany St. would be possible.
“We’ve lost a southbound left turn for the public, forcing people to loop through Battery Park City,” said committee member Michael Ketring at the Wed., Oct. 1 meeting. “What are the plans to consider that left turn at Albany St.?”
Shilpan Patel, deputy director of the state’s Dept. of Transportation, said it was not only the state D.O.T. but also the city D.O.T that needs to make that decision. Once West St., also known as Route 9A, is complete, then a traffic study would have to be conducted for the viability of the turn.
“At this point, we’re been asking for this for years now,” said committee member Pat Moore. “It’s like my mother, my father. City D.O.T. says you have to talk to state, state says you got to talk to the city.”
The issue of the left turn was also brought up at the Battery Park Committee meeting last month and Community Board 1 has passed a resolution concerning the turn.
“When we’re heading south, we have to go all the way down to the end of the island, loop around, come back and make a right-hand turn. That’s ridiculous,” said Moore.
Patel said the D.O.T.’s primary focus is to finish 9A although it’s not clear when it will be completed — perhaps next year — nor when a traffic study would take place.
Toby Hansson, the senior principal, transportation, for the Route 9A Reconstruction project, said that the left turn was intended to be at Liberty St., but that the plans changed.
“Albany St. never had a left turn. It was never permitted before. It might have been allowed, but it was never a legal left turn,” said Hansson.
“It was condoned,” said chair Edward Sheffe.
“We can’t put the left turn at Albany until we know what the traffic will be when we’re done. There’s also a M.T.A. Battery Park underpass,” said Hansson. “There are lots of players involved. We can study it. I wouldn’t say that you’ll get that left turn back.”
“A lot of people come to me and they’re frustrated with the progress of Route 9A, so I think this committee should do a resolution urging the relevant stakeholders to come together and try to speed up the construction,” said C.B. 1 chairperson Catherine McVay Hughes, who also mentioned that the community would like the bike lanes opened as well.
The intersection of West and Albany Sts.
Before 9/11, Route 9A was also under construction for ten years and was completed just before the attacks, said Sheffe.
“So we got 20 years of Route 9A being torn up,” he said. “And it’s time to get it fixed.”
