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Q&A
Changes to clearance requirements for sidewalk cafes
2:00:10
·
121 sec
Council Member Brooks-Powers inquires about changes to clearance requirements for sidewalk cafes and how DOT determined proper distances between cafes and other street elements. DOT officials explain their approach to setting these requirements.
- DOT used the pedestrian mobility plan to set clear path requirements based on pedestrian traffic levels
- Adjustments were made to balance restaurant operation with adequate pedestrian clearance
- Interagency meetings were held to review existing clearances and determine appropriate distances from other street elements
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
2:00:10
Just going over to again, in line with what I was asking in terms of rules.
2:00:15
In the pre pandemic program, restaurants operate in sidewalk cafes were required to maintain a sidewalk clearance of half of the sidewalk or eight feet, whichever was greater.
2:00:26
Can you describe the changes the agency made to the clearance requirements for sidewalk cafes?
Michelle Craven
2:00:34
So in terms of the pedestrian clear path, I think the first deputy commissioner alluded to this a little bit, but we did the agency conducted or released the pedestrian mobility plan that did a modeling analysis throughout the city to identify streets that have higher pedestrian traffic versus streets with lower pedestrian traffic, and recommended pedestrian clear paths for different types of corridors based on those uses.
2:01:04
We've used the guidance in the pedestrian mobility plan to set the clear path in this program.
2:01:11
We did make some adjustments because we were trying to balance getting more restaurants to operate, as many restaurants to operate as we can versus providing adequate clearances for pedestrians.
2:01:22
And so for the larger corridors, we reduced the recommended requirements by several feet, but that's where we got these numbers for the for the pedestrian clear path.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
2:01:34
How did DOT determine the proper distance between sidewalk cafes and other street elements such as subway infrastructure, tree beds, mailboxes?
Michelle Craven
2:01:45
So we held a series of interagency meetings for a long period of time to and we reviewed the existing clearances that were out there, both that were listed in the old DCWP program as well as clearance requirements that other programs have for their infrastructure to try to come up with the most appropriate clearances here.
2:02:06
And that was sister agencies, the MTA, Con Ed, National Grid, anybody who might be touching the street.