Traffic & Transit

UWS To Get 3 Curbside Truck Delivery 'Microhubs' This Spring

The microhubs on the Upper West Side will be up to 100 feet long and located in the curb lane.

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The New York City Department of Transportation has green-lighted plans to add three street-side truck unloading zones called microhubs to the Upper West Side, department officials said.

The microhubs, which will be implemented in the spring, are part of a three-year pilot program expected to help curb double parking and keep large delivery trucks out of the way of drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, officials said.

The three new microhubs coming to the Upper West Side will be installed at Amsterdam Avenue and West 73rd Street, Amsterdam Avenue and West 85th Street, and Broadway and West 77th Street, the department said.

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“New Yorkers are receiving more deliveries than ever before, and microhub zones will make them greener and safer by reducing the number of big trucks navigating local streets,” Ydanis Rodriguez, the NYC DOT Commissioner, said.

At the hubs, large truck operators would have dedicated space to offload deliveries onto smaller, more street-friendly modes of transportation like bikes, small vans and handcarts for the last leg of the journey, DOT officials said.

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The pilot program will last three years, officials said.

The microhubs on the Upper West Side will be up to 100 feet long and located in the curb lane. In these zones, the department will install signage and upgraded safety barriers and cargo bike corrals where needed, officials said.

“Big delivery trucks not only present safety risks on busy city streets, but too often they block the flow of traffic on our roads and pedestrians on our sidewalks," Rodriguez said.

Each zone will be licensed to one delivery company to operate and maintain the area, but the companies have not been chosen by the DOT yet, officials said.

Brooklyn neighborhoods Clinton Hill and Greenpoint will also be getting microhubs installed as part of the pilot program, the DOT said.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.

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