The year 2007 may prove to be one of the most important years in the storied history of New York City's development. In a future timeline of urban advances, it might be printed in as big a font and as bold a type as 1811--when the grid system was adopted--or 1904--when the I.R.T. subway opened. The text adjacent to 2007 could say something like "the start of livable streets," or "the bike boom begins," or "congestion pricing kicks off." It may turn out that all of those descriptions may suit 2007. The real question is, in hindsight, will they?

Recently, a New Yorker (let's call him Tim) was forced off a sidewalk by a double-wide stroller, a large dog, and an elderly pedestrian all traveling abreast. So he shimmied between parked cars, nearly collided with a bike messenger going the wrong way up a one-way street, and walked through the exhaust-choked margin of the avenue while fantasizing about a future in which New York City's clogged streets are reconfigured in favor of pedestrians and cyclists.

Bronxites hoofin' it across the Grand Concourse at E. 170th St. - heads up.

A new study calls it the most dangerous intersection for pedestrians in the borough, and the third most dangerous in the city, though city officials dispute the assertion.

"Thru Streets," the city transportation program that prohibits cars from turning along nine midtown streets, will become a permanent part of New York's traffic pattern, officials announced Thursday.

The city also announced yesterday it would increase from 28 to 40 the number of midtown intersections where pedestrians are given time to cross without having to worry about the threat of turning vehicles.

"They'll be able to get 20 to 22 seconds of exclusive crossing times," said Tom Cocola, a spokesman for the city department of transportation.

There's no turning back. The city has made permanent the traffic rules that bar turns from nine east- or west-bound Manhattan streets - dubbed Thru Streets - that were put into place in 2002.

The no-turn regulations in midtown have cut how long it takes to drive across town on those roads while an accompanying initiative - giving pedestrians time to walk across streets without having to worry about cars coming from any direction - has resulted in fewer pedestrian injuries, officials said.

At 8:30 yesterday morning, hundreds of children crisscrossed the corner of Rutgers and Henry streets on their way to school. An hour later, a driver lost control of his silver RAV4, which flipped onto the sidewalk and slammed into four pedestrians.

The pastor of the Catholic church located at the corner, the Rev. Donald Baker, said it was a terrible accident - the second one he's witnessed at the intersection in the year he's been at Saint Teresa's Church. But he said it could have been much worse.

"Many New Yorkers simply can't walk fast enough to safely navigate the city's broad intersections. A study by Transportation Alternatives, a local citizen's group, found that most of the crosswalks require pedestrians to walk at a clip of at least 4 feet a second to cross before the light changes--a hair-raising if not impossible challenge for all but the most fleet-footed."

Colleagues of a beloved elderly nun — a tireless, warmhearted woman accidentally run over and killed at a dangerous Manhattan intersection — mourned her yesterday, as the devastated driver who hit her went back to work.

At lunchtime, the nuns at the Maryknoll Center in Westchester County talked about Sister Catherine Lee, a retired member who was crossing Sixth Avenue at 23rd Street Monday when a 45,000-pound, six-wheel truck struck her.

Eight pedestrians have been killed or gravely injured since 1995 at the busy Chelsea street corner where an elderly nun was fatally struck by a truck Monday, records show.

During the same period, 20 other people were run over at the same intersection but escaped serious harm, according to NYPD reports submitted to the state Department of Transportation.