Doug Clarke sends us the latest from New York Today: Taking It Slow
It’s the last day to fearlessly go 30 miles per hour in the city.
The limit on most streets goes down to 25 m.p.h. on Friday.
A lot of ink has already been spilled over the change, which is part of Vision Zero, the mayor’s plan to eliminate pedestrian fatalities.
The New Yorker’s Nick Paumgarten wrote that “it feels funny” for a city that has prided itself on its breakneck pace to slow down.
Denis Hamill wrote in The Daily News that the new speed limit could lead to more road rage. (Not Pete Hamill, as we mistakenly reported earlier.)
But will the reduced speed limit actually change traffic patterns in the city?
Sam Schwartz, the former traffic commissioner known as Gridlock Sam, told us, essentially, no.
For one thing, posting signs has been shown to have little effect on driver behavior.
That is, in the absence of strict enforcement.
We’ve been assured that the police won’t be splitting hairs, focusing instead on major speeders.
And Mr. Schwartz said the police were also unlikely to be on every street, appearing instead on accident-heavy roads like Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.
Also, the speed limit won’t change on highways. And in much of Manhattan, the streets are so congested during the day that speeding is virtually impossible.
“On Canal or Fifth Avenue,” Mr. Schwartz said, “25 miles an hour would be a huge increase.”
He conceded that there might be a slight downward shift, given the prominence of Vision Zero.
“But after a while, you’ll see the taxis starting to dart.”
