Traffic Calming

The past few weeks, we've kept an eye on the rapid progress of Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District. Lest we forget about its slightly older neighbor to the north, Meat Market Plaza, Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson, Jr. cut together this short video capturing the site (Ninth Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets) before, during, and after construction. The project was completed last fall and is enjoying copious use with the advent of spring.

The view of Gansevoort Plaza looking west.

Biking by the Seine during car-free hours on the Georges Pompidou Expressway.

NYC DOT is proposing to turn Manhattan's 34th Street into a river-to-river "transitway."

Amsterdam Ave. and 76th St. with street space reallocated to walkers, bikes and buses.

Buses and trucks jockey for position on 181st Street in Washington Heights

Here's an idea to file away for PARK(ing) Day 2008. In this video (which starts to pick up after the :45 mark), Paris Deputy Mayor Denis Baupin narrates Operation "Carré Vert" ("Green Square"), an intervention in which activists re-allocate road space on the Périphérique -- the highway that encircles the city -- in a matter of minutes. 

The view of Gansevoort Plaza looking west. The area to the right of the construction barrels will be set aside for pedestrian use.

In a piece from the March issue of Outside Magazine that seems especially relevant today, Tim Sohn writes about public space reform in New York City. His article is accompanied by an illustration of what the future of our city could look like: complete streets with dedicated bus and bike lanes, traffic calming gardens, and sidewalks wide enough to accommodate window shoppers without slowing pedestrian traffic -- none of which would depend on Albany for approval.