EXCLUSIVE
The Giuliani administration is considering a sweeping plan to unclog Times Square for pedestrians with wider sidewalks, severe traffic restrictions and fewer taxi stands, The Post has learned.
A study by the Department of City Planning also recommends banning truck deliveries during rush hours, making a three-block stretch of Broadway off limits to passenger vehicles and installing high-tech cameras to catch illegal parkers.
Brendan Sexton of the Times Square Business Improvement District, which long ago proposed widening sidewalks, applauded the city’s effort.
“It’s a pretty good plan, I must say. They consulted with us and incorporated a lot of our ideas, but it’s their plan,” he said.
“It’s something we are very happy with. It should take place in the next month or two but certainly before December.”
Times Square, once as famous for drug-peddling and sex shops as for its grand New Year’s Eve celebrations, has undergone a drastic family-friendly metamorphosis in recent years.
These days, the crowds spill over from sidewalks virtually from morning to midnight, drawn by attractions ranging from the glass-enclosed MTV studios to the ESPN Zone eatery.
Andrew Lynn, executive director of the Planning Department, didn’t return numerous calls for comment.
But one official said parts of the plan could be implemented within weeks.
The recommendations include:
* Prohibiting right turns from 44th and 46th streets onto Broadway and left turns from 45th and 47th streets.
* Restricting entry onto Broadway between 44th and 47th for all traffic except buses, trucks, bicycles and horse cabs.
* Changing truck delivery hours from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. to 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
* Monitoring illegal parking with strategically placed high-tech cameras.
* Barring cars exiting the Lincoln Tunnel from making right turns from Dyer Avenue onto West 42nd Street.
* Reducing the number of taxi stands.
Over the long term, strollers would enjoy more seating and water fountains. Public toilets are also on the agenda, but not immediately.
The report said there were 4,840 pedestrian accidents in the Times Square area over a five-year period, including 31 fatalities.