Construction Resumes To Make 11th Avenue One-Way Southbound To Lincoln Tunnel
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Drivers on the West Side of Manhattan faced a commuter alert this morning as construction resumed on 11th Avenue.
Crews are working to make the avenue one-way southbound from 57th Street to 52nd Street.
The city's Department of Transportation says the work is part of an ongoing project to improve traffic flow heading to the Lincoln Tunnel and enhance safety. Eventually, the entire stretch from 57th Street to the tunnel will be southbound only.
Later this summer, the DOT also plans to install pedestrian islands on the west side of 11th Avenue, as well as bike lanes between 57th and 43rd streets.
Drivers are urged to pay attention to signage and plan ahead.
Lyft driver Mohamed Fofana told CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis the shift in traffic is just shifting problems elsewhere.
"It's a headache," he said. "It's no good. Now there's a traffic jam on 10th Avenue. 10th Avenue used to be a very good street to go up."
"Might slow it down a little bit more. I don't know if it's going to be for the best or the worst, but you'd think the city knows it's going to be good for us," said driver Ivan Rodriguez. "We'll see what happens."
Another driver had a hard time getting into the Mercedes dealer at 54th and 11th.
"I came up 10th, went down 53rd Street to go around the corner to the entrance of the service entrance. How am I going to get my car in to be serviced if I can't get past this guy over here?" he said.
Earlier this month, the work lead to delays and tested drivers' patience. Many were taken by surprise, and some were even ticketed.
"11th Avenue one-way doesn't work. Look at this, put the camera that way, you see all the traffic. It's ridiculous," one commuter said.
"Whoever's idea this was, they should be fired. It was a fail, big time. This one-way thing, it's a disaster," said another.
The work between 57th and 52nd is expected to last a week.
