Group Wants To Ban Traffic From Central Park
NY1

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An advocacy group is making another drive to ban cars from Central Park – or at least get them to slow down.

A study by the group, Transportation Alternatives, found 90 percent of cars on the park loop exceed the 30 mph speed limit. The average speed of traffic on the loop, the survey found, was 36 mph.

Wednesday morning, members of the group held up signs urging drivers to slow down. They also called on the city to consider closing the road to cars altogether.

“It's basically a recipe for disaster to have people recreating in the park to get away from the city and having what is essentially a speedway,” said Ken Coughlin, the chairman of Car-Free Central Park, a campaign sponsored by Transportation Alternatives. “Even cars going 30 miles an hour are incredibly dangerous.”

The loop around Central Park is only open to vehicles during weekday rush hours, and remains off-limits to traffic all day on weekends and holidays. Transportation Alternatives is trying to collect 100,000 signatures on a petition to extend the ban to 24 hours a day.

The group wants to ban traffic from all roads in the park except for the four cross-town traverses, which are never open to recreational use.

But drivers don’t think their presence is a problem.

“I don't see many cars speeding through here, and it's certainly the best way to get around the park, so I disagree,” said one man driving past the protestors.

The Transportation Department says the speed limit is posted on the park’s roadways, adding it is unlikely Central Park would ever become car-free.

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