Car-Free Saturdays Will Open Path For Peds and Bikes From City Hall to 72nd

On three Saturday mornings in August, the Department ofTransportation will ban cars from nearly 5 miles of city streets tomake way for cyclists, joggers and walkers. Starting at the beginningof Centre St. in Lower Manhattan, then moving north onto Lafayette St.,Fourth Ave. and Park Ave., people will be able to travel all the way to72nd St. and then to Central Park by walking down the middle of astreet.

The streets will be closed to cars on August 9, 16 and23 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. On 15 major east-west streets, like Canal,14th St. and 42nd St., cars will be allowed to cross the car-free zone.

The chairman of the City Council's committee on transportation, JohnLiu, said a project like this has been discussed for several years, andwould reinforce a trend, rather than posing an inconvenience.

"This is not likely to create a huge ripple in the fabric ofManhattan," he said. "It may even begin to wean people off dependenceon personal automobiles."