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Canal Street, long a chaotic conveyor belt of cars, trucks and bargain-hunters, is finally getting a glow-up—and this time, it’s pedestrians who come first. The NYC Department of Transportation has unveiled a sweeping redesign that will transform the six-lane thoroughfare from West Street to the Bowery into something safer, saner and dare we say… strollable.
The centerpiece of the plan? “Super sidewalks.” These painted sidewalk extensions will run the length of entire blocks in Chinatown and Soho, creating breathing room where tourists, vendors and locals currently elbow for space. The DOT also plans full-block sidewalk expansions at 14 locations and high-visibility crosswalks at intersections that have long felt like Frogger IRL.
If you’re on two wheels, the makeover is just as sweet. A new two-way protected bike lane will stitch together the Hudson River Greenway, the Bowery and the Manhattan Bridge. It’ll finally offer cyclists a safe crosstown connection instead of forcing them to joust with delivery trucks on Grand Street.
Walker Street, the awkward slip lane funneling Holland Tunnel traffic into Chinatown, is getting the axe. In its place will be an expanded plaza anchored by the Chinatown Information Kiosk. Think more public space, fewer honking horns. Curb management is also getting smarter, with deliveries shifted onto nearby side streets and space carved out for designated loading zones and microhubs.
It’s a long-overdue fix for a corridor where pedestrians vastly outnumber cars east of Broadway but still get just a sliver of the street. A DOT survey in 2022 found that nearly all visitors arrive on foot, bike or transit, yet cars hog 90 percent of the space. The mismatch has made Canal one of Manhattan’s most dangerous streets: Between 2020 and 2024, there were 190 reported injuries east of Broadway alone, including six pedestrian fatalities.
City officials insist the redesign is more than cosmetic. “The Adams administration is dedicated to ensuring every New Yorker can enjoy safe streets, and is working to make Canal Street’s future more than a high-crash, highway-like corridor that splits Lower Manhattan in two,” said William Fowler, a spokesperson for City Hall. DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez echoed that, urging residents to attend public workshops this fall: “Every New Yorker deserves safe streets, and that is why this proposal for Canal Street aims to turn a high-crash, highway-like corridor into a street that is safer for everyone.”
Work is expected to kick off in summer 2026. For Canal Street, that can’t come soon enough.