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LISA NAPOLI: Word came last week that the city of Beverly Hills is considering a plan to turn the famed Rodeo Drive into a pedestrian mall. Now, a new report calls for the same fate for New York’s 42nd Street as well as the addition of a light rail corridor. Ashley Milne-Tyte has more.
ASHLEY MILNE-TYTE: Making 42nd Street more pedestrian-friendly would generate more than a billion dollars in economic benefits for New York City and State, according to the group Vision 42.
Transportation planner George Haikalis says stores, restaurants and theaters are eager to cash in.
GEORGE HAIKALIS:“Economic consultants estimated some 35 percent increase in retail and restaurant sales would occur.”
But Allison de Cerreno of NYU’s Rudin Center for Transportation policy and management says the problem is New York has so many transportation needs.
ALLISON DE CERRENO:“There’s only so much money to spend so where this exactly fits in is another piece that really needs to be worked out.”
The light-rail system would cost from $360 to $500 million.
I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.