DOT outlines Canal Street redesign; Chinatown merchants and medical providers warn loss of curb access would harm deliveries and patients

New York City Department of Transportation staff presented a concept to Community Board 2’s Traffic & Transportation Committee on Dec. 7 proposing corridor-wide changes to Canal Street, including painted “super sidewalks,” intersection simplification, and connected bike facilities. DOT staff said the project is large in scope and would be phased, with a revised proposal expected in early 2026 and initial implementation beginning in 2026 (with the possibility of additional seasons in 2027).

The presentation framed Canal Street as a high-pedestrian “global corridor” under the city’s Pedestrian Mobility Plan and said current sidewalks fall short of guidance. “Global corridors are ideally supposed to have…25-foot plus sidewalks and a 15-foot clear path,” a DOT planner said, and the agency proposed temporary painted sidewalk extensions and delineators to shorten crossing distances and relieve crowding. DOT said the painted extensions would generally add about 10 to 11 feet of painted sidewalk area block-by-block and that the agency is testing robust edge objects to prevent vehicle encroachment.

Why it matters: Canal Street carries heavy pedestrian flows, transit transfers and through traffic (including truck routes to the Holland Tunnel and Manhattan Bridge). Residents and merchants said they welcome safety work but argued the plan, as presented, risks undermining local deliveries, emergency…