A Manhattan community board has demanded that the Department of Transportation (DOT) figure out how to reallocate curb space so that roadways are not unsafely choked by double-parked delivery trucks and cabbies picking up or dropping off passengers. The resolution, which follows a similar demand by Upper West Side CB7 on Feb. 5, cited the explosive growth in app-based trips and residential package deliveries, which tripled between 2009 and 2017 to 1.1 million per day, with 41% of city households receiving at least two packages per week.
“There is not enough available curb space to accommodate this growing demand, and loading and unloading often happens in travel lanes,” read the resolution by CB2, which comprises Soho, Noho, Greenwich Village and Chinatown. “Double-parking leads to dangerous conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as to traffic congestion, which results in air and noise pollution, wasted fuel, more wear and tear on vehicles, stress, time costs to all drivers and delays for emergency vehicles.”
The resolution ultimately asks the DOT to figure out how to fix the problem, perhaps by creating loading zones by eliminating free curbside car parking. Unlike the contentious CB7 resolution, which only passed after eight months of negotiations and arguments, the CB2 vote was quick. The resolution asked that the DOT “focus on locations identified by the community as being problematic.”
Source: StreetsBlog
