Broadway Traffic Redo Yields Mixed Results, Mayor Says via NYT

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg acknowledged on Tuesday that the city’s ambitious re-engineering of the Midtown street grid had a mixed impact on traffic in the area, although he seemed to express general support for the pilot project, which barred automobile traffic along two sections of Broadway.

“Some of the roads are better; some of the roads are worse. Not everybody likes everything,” Mr. Bloomberg said at a press conference on Tuesday at a city-run career center in downtown Brooklyn. “On balance,” he added, “I hear very few complaints.”

The mayor spoke a day after The New York Times reported that two officials briefed on traffic data from the project characterized the results as disappointing. The project includes the closing of Broadway to motor traffic near Herald and Times Squares and was expected to speed traffic along Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue. One official said the traffic flow did not meet the department’s goals. Mr. Bloomberg must approve the changes before they can become permanent.