City to study making York Avenue one-way

December 7, 2007

by ZACH VEILLEUX

The New York City Department of Transportation is studying a series of proposals, introduced by three of Rockefeller University’s neighboring institutions, to revamp traffic patterns along York Avenue. If any of the proposals is ultimately implemented, it could mean changes to metered parking and bus routes serving Rockefeller and possibly converting York Avenue to one-way traffic, dramatically changing the routes by which vehicles access the university’s campus from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Drive.

The issue first came up in 2005 in response to traffic congestion along York Avenue between 68th and 71st Streets where the three institutions — NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Medical College of Cornell University and the Hospital for Special Surgery — are located. In those blocks, vehicles making left turns from York Avenue must fight for space with cars exiting the FDR at 71st Street and vans and trucks loading and unloading passengers and goods.

The three institutions commissioned a traffic engineering firm, Sam Schwartz PLLC, to study the traffic congestion and recommend solutions. The result was four proposals. The most sweeping option is to convert York Avenue to one-way southbound traffic for either nine, 19 or 26 blocks, including along Rockefeller’s five-block frontage with York Avenue. Though it would increase traffic flow, this proposal would require rerouting the northbound M31 bus and would likely also increase traffic volume through a largely residential neighborhood.

Other options proposed by Schwartz are to make York Avenue one-way southbound but with a northbound “contraflow” bus lane; to reverse or close the 71st and 73rd Street access points to the FDR; and to restripe York Avenue to eliminate parking and create dedicated left-turn lanes at key intersections.

“Like the other three institutions, we’re concerned about traffic congestion on York Avenue. But we believe that a one-way York Avenue would not be a positive development for the university,” says George Candler, associate vice president for planning and construction.

The university’s administration is primarily troubled by the prospect of increased traffic at the 63rd Street intersection, which has been the site of several pedestrian accidents in recent years, as well as the greater volume of cars that might use a southbound-only York Avenue for access to the Queensboro Bridge. “In addition, if York Avenue became one-way, it would become more difficult to access the campus from the FDR and it might also create problems for trucks using the loading docks at 64th Street,” Mr. Candler says.

Earlier this year, the Department of Transportation asked Community Board Eight, which represents the Upper East Side between 59th Street and 96th Street, to request another study to be paid for by the institutions.

On November 8, Metro newspaper reported that a group of elected officials had sent a letter to the city’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, expressing concerns over the proposal. The officials, who were not named, claimed the study was insufficient and expressed concerns about how the proposed conversion would impact city buses, planned Bus Rapid Transit service on First and Second Avenues, and how trucks will access a proposed garbage facility near 91st Street.

More recently, local officials have also solicited input from Rockefeller about the proposals. Comments from the university community may be sent to Director of Communications and Public Affairs Joe Bonner at bonnerj@rockefeller.edu.

Published: December 7, 2007