What if parts of Manhattan didn't have vehicular traffic, but instead conveyor-belt transportation? We've visited the idea of moving sidewalks as it was proposed in the late 1800s, but here's a later proposal, from 1954, which would have eliminated all wheeled traffic (and thus "roaring motors and noxious fumes") as well as "nervous pedestrians scurrying back and forth at dangerous intersections."
Imagine, instead, a leafy-mall extending down the avenue’s center, green with trees and bushes, brightened with flowers and flanked by a continuous stream of comfortable public cars, flowing smoothly along on silent, rubber belts. In them, milady sits and window-shops at a leisurely pace, hopping on and off at any point she desires. Imagine, too, a pair of subsidiary moving sidewalks with safe, convenient entrances and exits, upon which the pedestrian may ride along at a normal walking pace or gain easy access to the faster-moving cars.
The overall idea was to bring "a continuous belt-borne line of small passenger cars, moving in endless procession around a landscaped mall which extends from 58th to 14th streets. Two car types are shown, open and covered. A convertible model could easily be designed also. Each contains nine seats, facing the store fronts and stepped up in bleacher style to permit comfortable, unimpeded window shopping." Passengers would be able to hop on and off at any point via a speedwalk that traveled at the same rate.
Apparently Goodyear’s Conveyor-Belt Division was the best shot at making this pipe dream happen, with 36-inch wide belts that "can move nearly 20,000 tons of coal in a 24-hour day." Of course, this never became a reality, but the renderings show the conception of the future Fifth Avenue, had the city decided to move in this direction.
At the time, the Modern Mechanix writer asked, "Does all this sound like a hashish smoker’s dream of a shopper’s paradise?"
