Thurs., Jan. 8 – Wed., Jan. 14, 2015
ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING RULES ARE IN EFFECT ALL WEEK
Temperatures are dropping to below-freezing this week and the city has officially issued the first snow alert of the new year. Avoid driving if at all possible during snow alerts, but if you must drive, use extreme caution!
All Manhattan-bound lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge will close midnight Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday,midnight Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, and midnight Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday. Inbound traffic will take the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridges, and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel instead. Expect slowdowns on Delancey, Canal, and West Sts. as a result.
In tunnel news, the New York-bound south tube of the Lincoln Tunnel will close 11 p.m. Thursdayto 5 a.m. Friday. This will slow down late-night travel back to Lower Manhattan as drivers head south to the Holland Tunnel and onto Canal St. Additionally, in the Holland Tunnel, one New York-bound lane and one New Jersey-bound lane will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday. Expect extra traffic on Canal and Varick Sts.
On West St./Route 9A, one southbound lane will close from Vesey St. to West Thames St. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday.
From the mailbag:
Dear Transit Sam,
My son says that the buttons pedestrians push at corners are useless and have no impact on when the light changes. He insists they are there for psychological reasons to give the illusion of control.
What is the definitive answer here?
Cary, New York
Dear Cary,
Your son is half-right, but he gives too much credit to the traffic engineers— they’re not very good at creating illusions.
Almost none of the pedestrian push buttons work in the city proper (a couple still work where there is no intersection or very few pedestrians crossing). When they were first installed 45 years ago, they made the pedestrian crossing come on 3-5 seconds sooner. But, people were pressing them all the time in all directions and the traffic was slowed so the buttons were dismantled. Within N.Y.C.. you’ll find a few that still work at the airports, and the recently installed push buttons at Central and Prospect Parks are in operation. Outside N.Y.C., you’ll often find that you need to use the buttons not only to make the walk signal come on sooner but to make it come on at all. Not a good way to encourage walking.
Transit Sam
Email your traffic, transit and parking questions to transitsam@downtownexpress.com. To stay up-to-date on the latest traffic news, follow me on Twitter @GridlockSam. Start the New Year off right and avoid the gridlock with Gridlock Sam’s 2015 Parking Calendar. You can download a free PDF of the calendar or order a hard copy from the Gridlock Sam store.
