Also on my list:
- Permit parking for all of NYC; limited to city residents and tax-payers
- EZ-Pass Tolls on East/Harlem River bridges currently free to pay for their maintenance
- Congestion Pricing in addition to bridge tolls
- Re-introduction of two-way tolls at all crossings to eliminate toll-shopping and alleviate Canal St. traffic
- Reduction on parking and creation of loading zones on side streets to caccommodate UPS/FedEx/FreshDirect trucks who should be charged heavily for their use of city streets

No one neighborhood is an island with respect to the traffic crisis currently strangling the city and especially Manhattan. When it costs $4 round-trip to travel to the CBD by subway yet it's free to drive in and park for free on the streets you know the city has its priorities wrong.

Personally, I was floored that a table of mainstream East Side community people could be shown that image with some explanation by Fred and immediately conclude that we needed to install something along those lines on the Upper East Side. Maybe there was something in the fruit juice they were serving.

There was also a lot of positive discussion about Summer Streets by particpants at the event. It was noted that unlike downtown and the West Side, the East Side has an almost purely rectilinear grid and as a result there are almost no squares, triangles or other incidental undeveloped public spaces (other than those along the East River and the various playgrounds). It was in this context that participants observed that temporary or permanent street closures were necessary, and that Summer Streets was a good start.

Check out the traffic circle at the busiest intersection in Drachten, the Netherlands:

What wonderful ideas Glenn! Sorry you could not make it. I would have seated you at the table with your former CB8 transpo committee cronies, who attempted to hijack the meeting and turn it into a gripe-and-boast session centering on myopic efforts to police illegal vendors on 86th St. Hooray for Fred Kent, who had the backbone to pull the lead hijacker (Rita Popper, public enemy No. 1 of the 91st St. bike lane) from the podium!

I agree the that possibilities for a traffic circle at the intersection of 86th and Lexington are limited, not the least because it would have to be a tiny one given the development right up to the property line on all four corners. But it would make drivers avoid the intersection, which as Glenn points out would be a great improvement.

Perhaps a better way to do that is to take a lane or two from the west side of Lexington and turn it into a BRT lane and or southbound cycle track. The East Side desperately needs a southbound bicycle route, and the lane reduction in combination with the double parking (which already eliminates one of the three traffic lanes on Lexington) would turn Lexington functionally into a two-lane roadway, shunting most through traffic to other downtown routes.

86th Street & Lex: This is the commercial and mass transportation hub of the neighborhood. Anything that can be done to discourage automobile traffic on this street will greatly enhance the experience of commuters and shoppers. Rather than a center island, I think eliminating parking on either side of the street to allow a dedicated bus lane would be a much better choice. It would reduce double parking and provide much better mass transit access for the far east side that is over a mile from the nearest station.

Second Ave: Currently the Truck route for downtown on the east side hits a huge bottleneck at the QBB. By making First and Third two way Avenues, Second Ave could either become totally car-free or come down to just two lanes for cars and one for buses. Extend the sidewalks in and put in a protected bike lane and it becomes the other main attractive retail district for the neighborhood.

East River: Tear down the FDR north of 59th street (or maybe the whole thing) and create a East river Boulevard with greenway similar to the West Side.

Play Streets: Maybe not exactly like 91st Street, but strategically place one of these every 5-10 blocks near schools, museums, parks, low traffic areas. Put in a textured roadway to show that this is a very different street with no on-street parking or thru traffic - although deliveries and other essential trips (disabled living on the block) might be permitted.