Madison Square Park traffic patterns now favor cyclists

If you’ve been around Madison Square Park lately, you would have noticed quite a change in surroundings and traffic patterns from just a few weeks ago. The area has been made incredibly bike and pedestrian friendly with the closing of at least one former traffic lane and the widening of several areas of pedestrian islands.

I love what they’ve done with the place. If you’re on a bike, you can go through there safely via the dedicated green bike lanes. And if you’re a pedestrian looking to get a great shot of the Flatiron Building, you no longer have to risk your life to do so because the entire area is void of traffic. You can walk freely in the entire center and get as many shots of the surrounding buildings as you like.

The ground is covered in some sort of light-colored loose gravel. It’s got lots of traction and it looks nice in comparison to the road color. And for protection, there are large potted plants to keep traffic from accidentally going into the pedestrian center.

Google Maps still has an image of the old traffic patterns around Madison Square Park.