By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — Drivers won’t be getting a much-desired left-turn lane from West Street into the Financial District anytime soon, state officials said Wednesday night.
Adding the turn from southbound West Street onto Albany Street would snarl traffic for blocks, Joe Brown, director of the State Department of Transportation’s Route 9A project, told Community Board 1.
"Everything slows down," Brown said of the traffic models showing the proposed turn. "It’s not wise to put a left turn lane at Albany Street at this point."
Residents of the Greenwich South neighborhood have been begging the state and city for years to restore the turn, which was unofficially in place before 9/11. Without the turn, drivers have to go several blocks and traffic lights out of their way to access lower Manhattan.
Brown said the state and city may reconsider the turn lane several years from now, once construction at the World Trade Center finishes.
Downtown residents were disappointed to hear of the state’s decision.
"I can’t tell you how crazy it makes me," said Pat Moore, who has lived on Cedar Street overlooking the World Trade Center for nearly 34 years. "This is one of our major roads, and we can’t use it."
Drivers coming down the West Side Highway have two ways of accessing the Financial District: They can make a loop through Battery Park City, taking them three blocks out of their way, or they can go all the way down to Battery Place and turn around to head north, a 10-block detour.
The three hotels near the corner of Albany and West streets were also hoping for a change, said Adam Bahna, an executive at the new World Center Hotel on Washington Street. The absence of a left turn makes all taxi trips to the hotel more expensive and inconvenient, he said.
"It’s causing a big problem," Bahna said. "We’d like to see some more thought on it."
Brown said there has never been a legal left turn onto Albany Street, but before 9/11, 200 cars per hour made the turn illegally.
Ro Sheffe, chairman of CB1’s Financial District Committee, said the turn is essential for east-west connectivity through lower Manhattan.
"This is a critical issue for us," Sheffe told the state officials. "You’re the expert. We’re looking to you for solutions."
