Today, Transportation Alternatives (T.A.), a 5,000 member pedestrian advocacy group urged Mayor Giuliani to restore the eight crosswalks along 49th and 50th Streets currently blocked by pedestrian barricades. The group's request comes in response to a city plan to make the crosswalk blocking barricades permanent, and to move the crosswalk at 50th street and 5th Ave. 60 feet south, and at 50th St. and 6th Ave. 60 feet north. The City's plan was revealed in today's NY Post.

Last week in his "civility speech "the mayor said: "streets are perhaps our most important public space" and "those who walk in the most crowded parts of our city need to feel that the streets are safe for them." On 50th Street, pedestrians outnumber motor vehicles by 15 to 1.

"We applaud the mayor's stated concern for pedestrians. Given his concern, we urge him not to approve the plan for permanent barricades and set-back crosswalks. That plan subjects thousands of pedestrians to barricades, detours and delays to accommodate a handful of turning vehicles." Said John Kaehny, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives

Kaehny added: "The Midtown pedestrian barricades are a bad idea, setting them in concrete is a worse idea. A better plan would be to restore the corner crosswalks eliminate all daytime parking and stopping and turns onto 50th Street, and provide a short pedestrian head start at the beginning of the "WALK" light. "

Reasons For Transportation Alternatives Opposition To Permanent Barricade Plan
1. Pedestrians are subjected to unfair detours, delays and inconvenience by forcing them to travel an additional 60 feet down the block and then back for a total of 120 feet.
2. Favoring motor vehicle traffic flow over walking is short-sighted and amounts to discouraging non-polluting, space efficient travelers and encouraging more driving.
3. The City has not demonstrated that the barricades are effective, or that overall they reduce the public's travel time. ( To date the police have not released any traffic data.) T.A.'s analysis shows that pedestrian delays far outweigh motorist time saving.