Traffic jams have worsened on 71st Street following the closure of 61st Street for a widening project. At peak hours, the section of 71st Street between Lewis and Yale avenues usually congests up to a mile either side of the Harvard Avenue intersection. However. the congestion rarely had extended beyond Yale Avenue until 61st Street was closed. The 61st Street section should reopen later this year, which will help 71st Street to some degree. However, 71st Street's congestion will not be history until the road is widened to six lanes in the late 1990s. This photograph was taken April 7, 1989.
