LOWER EAST SIDE — A proposal to ease congestion by changing the flow of traffic on Broome Street moved forward in Community Board 3 Tuesday night, as first reported by Bowery Boogie.
CB3's transportation committee approved a proposal to send traffic flowing from west to east on Broome Street between Norfolk and Clinton streets. Broome currently runs east to west on that stretch.
The proposal was prompted by traffic snarls connected to Site 6, where construction continues on a new housing development bordered by Clinton, Delancey and Broome streets, according to Tim Laughlin, who directs the Lower East Side Partnership.
Laughlin, who presented the proposal to CB3, told DNAinfo New York Wednesday that the traffic concerns were aired during a community meeting in January.
Currently, trucks seeking to access the construction site must turn right from Grand Street onto Clinton — which many drivers use as a connector to the Williamsburg Bridge — and then negotiate a tight turn onto Broome, he explained. That, plus trucks staging in the area, can result in traffic jams down Clinton that clog Grand to the south, Laughlin said.
Laughlin's proposal would allow trucks headed to the worksite to travel south on Essex Street, and then make a left onto Broome.
"If you can reduce the need to use Clinton, which is a major feeder to the bridge, and instead use the Broome Street corridor, you're alleviated overall congestion," Laughlin said.
The plan would also add two new truck staging areas — one on Broome between Clinton and Pitt streets, and one on Norfolk between Broome and Grand. Laughlin said some, but not many, parking spaces would be lost to the staging areas. That change would further help prevent trucks from blocking traffic, he said.
The proposal must be approved by CB3's full board before it can be sent to the Department of Transportation for approval, Laughlin said. CB3's next full board meeting is Feb. 23.
The DOT did not immediately return a request for comment on the plan.
