Q: When Fifth Avenue reopened after construction of the underground parking garage, the post office reversed the path of its drop-off drive. Now one has to go past the drop-off area, then turn in counter to the flow of Fifth Avenue’s one-way traffic, then exit and drive past the drop-off drive again.
This orientation makes no sense whatsoever. Was it some DDA dream? Or Post Office whim? It certainly isn’t rational.
A: The change was made to address a potential hazard from the new parking structure entrance on the west side of Fifth: in the original configuration, the ramp would have blocked departing drivers’ view of traffic. Reversing the flow made the turns more awkward, but gave drivers an unobstructed view.
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