By Carol Tannenhauser
The restoration of the West 79th Street Rotunda is underway and the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced the following lane closures, which will begin on or around Friday, February 18, 2022:
The low volume ramps, with access to and from the Rotunda only, will be closed for the duration of the project (highlighted In red in the photograph above.)
Access to the Henry Hudson Parkway will remain open via the standard 79th Street ramps (highlighted in green.) The standard 79th Street ramps to exit and enter the northbound Henry Hudson Parkway will remain open, with reduced width, for the duration of the project.
All temporary traffic patterns adopted during construction are subject to review and may change if necessary, according to DOT.
Thanks to CB7 for the notice.
I find this confusing? Does this mean the 79th St. southbound exit ramp will be closed?
These are referencing walking/bike paths, not roadways.
They’re not talking about walking/bike paths. Those are the entry & exit ramps for the Boat Basin.
No.
I’m relieved they are finally starting this–the road conditions around the rotunda have been pretty grim lately.
They should have just repaved the rotunda to get rid of the potholes and reopened boat basin!
I don’t care if it takes 4 years to complete. This project has needed to be done for at least 10-15 years and has consistently been postponed. Yes, it will inconvenience me personally, but progress requires that. Infrastructure projects will inconvenience everyone. But, we all need to have our eyes on the finished project.
Why don’t they permanently close the low volume ramps? They aren’t necessary for drivers and they add an unnecessary road crossing for any pedestrian in the neighborhood trying to access the greenway. Get rid of ‘em!
It’s easy to propose things without thinking them through. How are cars supposed to get to the Boat Basin and/or change direction on the West Side Highway without these roadways?
Exit the highway, turn on Riverside. Turn o. 80th/78th, turn on West End, turn on 79th, back on highway. What says a driver needs to have an immediate u-turn ability on 79th street? I cant think of any other location on the WSH where you can do this since they had changed the 96th offramp almost 20 years ago. Besides, why does one typically need to make a u-turn on the WSH anyway? As for entering the boat basin, same as above. There are more cyclists and pedestrians crossing the path than drivers entering the boat basin. Since there are more vulnerable road users than drivers, definitely cater to safety above the convenience of a few privileged drivers (coming from a driver myself).
You have no clue what you are talking about. That 79th rotunda is incredibly well used. Buses need it for u-turns all the time. It’s the only exit between 96th and 58th street from the west side highway. There is NO issue with pedestrians since they have there own tunnel that goes underneath it. Absolutely zero reason to close this permanently. Would not help anything whatsoever. Clearly you don’t know what you are talking about.
Sorry, David, but I think you are the one who is just not understanding what my post, or the whole thread, was talking about. I am not talking about closing the Rotunda, or the main ramps off of the WSH. The thread is specifically about the auxiliary ramps that directly feed to the Boat Basin. The main exit is not at issue here. Bot calling for a Donald Trump exit removal, when he got the 72nd street exit removed for his Trump Place construction project.
You enjoy being a contrarian but trip over your arguments. You’re proposing eliminating one potential trouble spot where pedestrians encounter cars, but your solution creates increased traffic at eight other crosswalks along your suggested route. All this just to bring cars back to where they started this detour. And eliminating that off ramp just pushes the traffic to the other exit ramp. You also have to take into account that more cars will make a dangerous and illegal left turn from that ramp to get to the Rotunda.
Except that those other intersections are at signalized intersections designed for more traffic. It is also only 4 intersections, not 8. Plus, the increase in traffic is insignificant because the number of vehicles using it is insignificant. But that is also why those intersections are so dangerous- since they are barely used, pedestrians and drivers alike do not pay as much attention to safety as they should. Instead of trying to get people to behave differently, change the infrastructure to force people to behave in a safer manner. That is the point.
Time to step away from your socialist agenda for a moment. Large parks department maintenance, cleaning and sanitation vehicles use those roadways to get in and out of the park – those roadways aren’t just for “the privileged few”.
As a former parks dept employee, I can tell you we didnt use those ramps to get into the park. There was generally no reason for us to be on the WSH to begin with. But thanks for knowing so much!
Not shown on the map is the temporary (3-year temporary, I am told by neighbors) end-of-line MTA select 79th Street crosstown bus – open-air stop-over station, emitting gasoline or fuel fumes 24-7. The south side of W. 79 St. from Riverside Drive almost up to West End Avenue has no more alternate side parking for autos, a DOT matter – it now has MTA construction signs and bus stop signs and much debris in the gutter area partially due to recent sloppy NYC-Sanitation Dept. reduction in pick-up & sweeping schedule.
I went for a walk with a friend, in Riverside Park last Friday, the 11th, which was a warm and gorgeous day. We entered the lower park near the Boat Basin around the northern side of the rotonda. It was disgusting and felt dangerous, with trash and water. It should have been closed off entirely with signs directing pedestrians to enter the lower park in a different direction.
Please someone pick up all the trash and garbage along the entire Riverside Park.