Renowned for its premier shopping and popular tourist attractions, 70% of the traffic on Fifth Avenue consists of pedestrians strolling along one of the city’s most iconic streets.
The redesign, the first in the avenue’s 200-year history, will expand sidewalk space by 46%.
City officials say the project, which will extend between Bryant Park and Central Park, is expected to pay for itself in less than five years through increased tax revenues.
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The avenue is currently 100 feet wide, featuring five lanes of vehicular traffic and two 23-foot sidewalks. The city says on an average day each block sees around 5,500 pedestrians an hour. During the holidays, that jumps to 23,000 people an hour.
NYC says this current configuration, with just 15 feet of unobstructed walking space on either side due to city signage, trash cans and lighting, can no longer accommodate that level of foot traffic.
The redesign would see sidewalks expanded to 33.5 feet on each side, with 25 feet of walking space. These changes would also increase pedestrian safety by shortening the distance of crosswalks.
The new design also adds more than 230 new trees and 20,000 square feet of planters.
The city says the redesign is inspired by other iconic shopping streets around the world, including the Champs Elysees in Paris and Ginza in Tokyo.
The Fifth Avenue redesign project builds on the core tenets of the “New” New York Panel’s action plan, wherein public space is key to the city’s economic recovery.
According to the city, the avenue is responsible for 313,000 direct and indirect jobs, which in turn generate $44.1 billion in total wages and $111.5 billion in total economic output every year.
Construction on the project is expected to begin in 2028.
Rendering courtesy New York City Hall
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