Shutting down Broadway to cars passed its first major test today, with traffic flowing smoothly out of the city during the usually horrendous rush hour.
Drivers cruised down Ninth and Eleventh Avenues to the Lincoln Tunnel with few delays from the new surge of cars diverted to Manhattan’s west side.
The surprising results capped a day of gripes from drivers and business owners, with some saying the pedestrian plazas stole away many of their coveted tourist customers.
Traffic trouble spots popped up at West 35th Street and Sixth Avenues, where unrelated construction slowed down cars trying to make the forced right turn off Broadway.
The same issue cropped up at Broadway and 47th Street, where cars also had to turn right.
Some business owners who previously thought they’d cash in on the shutdown said yesterday they may have lost money on the new plan.
“We have fewer customers because of the pedestrian mall. Tour buses used to drive up and stop in front of the store,” said John Palha, manager of Grand Slam souvenir shop.
“We used to get six or seven buses a day, but today we’ve seen 200 fewer customers than on a typical day.”
The city Department of Transportation added 66 percent more green light time on Sixth Avenue going across West 34 Street, a jump from 32 to 54 seconds, said spokesman Seth Solomonow.
Also, officials said lights stayed green 20 percent longer on Seventh Avenue, increasing times from 45 to 54 seconds from West 47th to West 42nd streets, he said.
An average 40 cars passed by the intersection at 43rd Street during lunch hour, while about eight cars per light passed from 43rd Street across Seventh Avenue.
Jay White, who was delivering Coca-Cola around Herald Square, said he had no choice but to park his truck in one location and make several deliveries — which made his truck idle longer, he said.
“This is the worst thing Bloomberg has ever done,” he said. “It’s just too complicated.”
Additional reporting by Kirsten Fleming and Tom Namako