Thurs., Feb. 26 – Wed., March 4 | ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING IS IN EFFECT ALL WEEK Lunar New Year celebrations continue in Lower Manhattan! A Chinese Lunar Festival will close Market St. between East Broadway and Division St. 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Both Hudson River tunnels will be impacted by maintenance this coming week, causing late-night gridlock in the vicinity of the Holland Tunnel. In the Lincoln Tunnel, one New York-bound tube will be closed 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday. This will send drivers south to the Holland Tunnel where one New York-bound lane and one New Jersey-bound lane will be closed during the same period. Expect late night delays and extra traffic on Canal and Varick Sts.
All Manhattan-bound lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday, midnight Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, midnight Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday, and 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Wednesday nights. During these overnight closures, inbound traffic will be rerouted to the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges, as well as the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. That means more traffic on Canal, Delancey, and West Sts.
On West St./Route 9A, one southbound lane from Vesey St. to West Thames St. will be closed 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. both Thursday and Friday. Also on West St., during the weekdays, one northbound lane from West Thames St. to Chambers St. will be closed 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., and one southbound lane will be closed 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.
From the mailbag:
Dear Transit Sam,
I saw you on a morning news show talking about your tolling plan, “Move NY.” Will the plan undo the horrific impacts that one-way tolling has on Canal St.?
Linda, Tribeca
Dear Linda,
It will do a lot to take cars and trucks off Lower Manhattan streets like Canal, Broome, Delancey, Chambers and others that connect with the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridge by correcting Gaynor’s Goof; William Gaynor is the mayor who removed tolls from the East River Bridges in 1911.
The one-way tolls at the Verrazano Bridge were introduced by federal legislation in 1986 over my objections as a city official. I predicted it would wreak havoc on Lower Manhattan which it has with at least several score dead from rerouted vehicles [Read about the latest death on Canal St., P. 3].
While MOVE NY does not call for a return to one-way tolls, which I support, it does slash tolls at the Verrazano Bridge making it much less expensive to drive through Staten Island and more expensive to drive through Manhattan. This will sharply reduce truckers and others who have been getting a free ride through our streets.
The entire plan is available for you to read on the website www.iheartmoveny.org and you can show your support for the plan there by signing the petition to get New York moving again.
Transit Sam
Email your traffic and transit questions to transitsam@downtownexpress.com. For the most up-to-date traffic news, follow me on Twitter @GridlockSam and be sure to check the website
www.GridlockSam.com.
