EPA press release on WTC cleaning hotline launch, June 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Improving Chinatown Traffic

Critical to improving the quality of life in Chinatown is to identify ways of alleviating the perva­ sive traffic congestion in the neighborhood. Potential means of reducing congestion include the creation of new bus loading areas for the growing commuter bus business, alternative loading and carting measures to reduce street litter, and providing increased parking to reduce double-parking and "circling" for spaces.

Currently, there are two complementary efforts studying ways to ameliorate the poor traffic con­ ditions in Chinatown. One is the Chinatown Transportation and Traffic .Improvements Study which is being conducted jointly by LMDC and the New York City Department of Tran.sportation in coordination with multiple City and State agencies. The study will examine problems such as truck parking on sidewalks, garbage storing and carting practices, and the rise of independent, intra-city bus services which congest the neighborhood's narrow streets.

The other is the Canal Area Transportation Study (CATS). CATS is a multi-agency effort coor­ dinated bv the New York .Metropolitan Transportation Council with extensive community partic­ ipation. The effort recognizes the dual pressures on the Canal Street corridor resulting from sig­ nificant through traffic passing between the .Holland Tunnel and Manhattan Bridge, and loca.l vehicular activity generated by residential, business, and visitor trips throughout the area. CATS Phase One, nearing completion, focuses on near-term measures to ease congestion, improve traf­ fic flow, and enhance pedestrian safety. A second phase will address longer-term options to improve the corridor and to distribute through trips more effectively on the available roadway network.

The coordination of pedestrian and vehicular improvements in the Canal Street corridor and in the area around the Brooklyn Bridge is critical, and can lead to comprehensive traffic solutions that benefit residents, business owners, and visi­ tors to Chinatown.

An example of the congested street conditions m Chinatown.

I,owcr Manhattan I ransportation Strategics

NYC-WTC_000143106