Broadway closing down car traffic

New York plans to close several blocks of Broadway to vehicle traffic through Times Square and Herald Square, an experiment to reduce traffic congestion in Midtown and turn the streets into pedestrian malls.

Although it seems counterintuitive, officials believe the move will actually improve the overall flow of traffic, because the diagonal path of Broadway tends to disrupt traffic where it intersects with other streets.

The city plans to introduce the changes as early as May and keep them in effect through the end of the year. If the experiment works, they could become permanent.