People gather in Times Square, where part of Broadway was closed to cars in 2009. Image Credits: Pexels
Pedestrian accidents in Times Square were 137% more common than on other avenues in the neighbourhood, according to the report. The city announced its pilot project in February 2009. Broadway was closed to traffic on 24 May, and the construction was completed by the end of August. Foot traffic in Times Square rose by 11%. The report cited a November 2009 survey by The Times Square Alliance that found 74% of New York City residents said the area had improved dramatically over the previous year. In February 2010, the mayor announced that the plazas would stay. The city’s transportation department dates the programme’s start to 2008, and it expanded citywide in 2009. By 2022, the transport department had listed 73 plazas as either completed or in progress. The authors studied five smaller plazas in Brooklyn and Queens, drawing on site observations, surveys, and interviews collected in 2018 and 2019. The 2009 injury figures are early data, and they come from the city’s own evaluation of its project.
The report says activities such as taking photos, checking maps and looking at billboards moved from the sidewalk into the new plazas. Broadway runs through the street grid of Manhattan at an angle. Where it meets avenues, it creates busy junctions with multiple legs, and the crosswalks were long and confusing. Times Square and Herald Square had ten times as many pedestrians as vehicles, thus making it easy for people to spill into the streets. Crosswalks were shortened, traffic lanes became clearer, and plazas with seating took over road space. The first version used temporary materials and furnishings. That left more room for people just trying to get places. The transport department reviewed the safety, mobility and satisfaction results and recommended making the changes permanent. Times Square was only the beginning. Hanife Vardi Topal and Karen A. Franck’s peer-reviewed study in The Journal of Public Space points out that Times Square Plaza was the first project of the city’s plaza programme, which the authors describe as the first of its kind in the US. Four out of five were well-used. Plaza managers also described a shortage of funds for maintenance and events. Still, Times Square suggests that giving space back to people can improve both safety and atmosphere.
