Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycling

Sign the Petition to Fix Canal Street, “Manhattan’s Boulevard of Death”

Canal Street is Manhattan's preeminent traffic sewer.

A loud, dirty, menacing torrent of motorized traffic with cramped sidewalks and no designated space for bicycling, Canal gets pulverized by the "trucker's special," which gives motorists a free ride across Lower Manhattan via the untolled Manhattan Bridge to the untolled westbound Holland Tunnel. The thousands of residents, workers, and tourists who traverse the street on foot every day are shoved to the margins.

Traffic crashes have killed 13 people on Canal since 2009, leading Transportation Alternatives to call it "Manhattan's Boulevard of Death." Last year, the victims included cyclist Edouard Menuau and a motor vehicle occupant who were killed in separate collisions at Bowery and Canal, at the foot of the bridge. Motorists have seriously injured 89 pedestrians and 39 cyclists on Canal since 2015, TransAlt says.

TransAlt has posted a petition calling for Canal Street to be overhauled for safe walking and biking. If you can make Canal Street a walkable, bikeable street, you can do it anywhere.

“The highway-like scene found on Canal Street lowers quality of life for all New Yorkers,” the petition reads. “Businesses struggle to receive deliveries along the corridor. Workers have carry massive loads, on foot, in the middle of car traffic. People walking to shops and storefronts do not fit on the sidewalk, and are forced into harm's way.”

The goal is to gather 10,000 signatures and deliver them to city, state, and federal representatives, as well as local community boards.

It's free
Trucker’s special: It’s free to drive over the East River, barrel across local Manhattan streets, and take a tunnel under the Hudson, but sticking to the highway and going over the Verrazano will cost a five-axle truck $80. Map: MoveNY
It's free

There's a strong connection between making Canal Street safer and enacting congestion pricing. Putting a price on the East River bridges would immediately shift some truck trips away from surface streets in Chinatown, Soho, and Tribeca by disrupting the free ride for westbound traffic across Manhattan, an issue that Council Member Margaret Chin tried to compel the city to address in 2015.

The reduction in bridge traffic enabled by congestion pricing opens up possibilities for physical design changes too. As with other traffic sewers feeding the East River bridges, ending the free ride for motorists would make it easier to claim street space on Canal for people walking and biking.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Congestion Pricing’s Big Winner? Bus Riders

Buses move faster in and around New York City ever since congestion pricing kicked in — spurring MTA officials to tweak some route schedules.

March 20, 2025

DOT Rolls Out Four New 20 MPH Speed Limit Zones

Four more New York City neighborhoods will become 20 mph speed limit zones this year, city officials said on Wednesday.

March 20, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Bye Bye, MetroCard Edition

The MTA will stop selling MetroCards by the end of 2025 after 32 years. Plus more news.

March 20, 2025

Foot Traffic Data Shows New Yorkers Aren’t Avoiding Manhattan After Congestion Pricing

City data shows that more people, not less, are coming into Manhattan since the launch of congestion pricing.

March 19, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: Stand Your Ground Edition

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber still has no plans to turn off the congestion pricing cameras — to hell with Donald Trump. Plus more news.

March 19, 2025
See all posts