New pilot project may come to Herald Square

There is perhaps no place as frustrating for cyclists as Herald Square, said Ken Paulsen, 37, an advertising manager who lives in Hell's Kitchen.

Paulsen rides a racing bike with his feet clipped to the pedals, making it difficult to stop abruptly. One time, when trying to avoid two different herds of pedestrians at the busy intersection, "I skidded right under the back of a truck."

What can or should be done to ease the way through Herald Square, the bow-tied aorta of midtown with a tangle of traffic and people, is a subject of much debate.

The 34th St. Partnership has a redesign proposal it has yet to make public that it hopes will lesson the transportation chaos, said Ignacio Ciocchini, vice-president of design for the Partnership.

Ciocchini explained, the bike lanes now on Broadway and Seventh Avenue between 32nd and 35th Streets, would all be moved to Sixth Avenue. a street that is already the most popular biking thoroughfare in the city, according to Nuttle.

"We don't know if it's feasible or not, but we're looking at it," Ciocchini said of the unfinalized pilot project.

Pedestrian counts continue to rise in the densely traveled area. This summer, 12,012 pedestrians an hour flooded out of 34th St. exit for the LIRR west of Seventh Ave. during peak hours of the day, and 10,656 people entered during them, according to Partnership statistics. The Foot Locker on W. 34th between Broadway and Seventh Ave. had 8,628 people walking past in a peak hour.

The city, Ciocchini explained, is a continual work in progress as people like him try to satisfy oodles of users and stake holders with often competing needs and desires.

"If the Dutch and the Danes can do it, we can do it," Dan Biederman, 34th St. Partnership president, said of the desire to create an efficient, eco-friendly hub. The area "is still a little messy, but it's working pretty well," Biederman said.