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December 15, 1999 10:22 AM, EST

A threatened New York City transit workers strike that would have caused the city to impose severe restrictions on vehicles entering Manhattan has been averted.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents bus and subway workers in the city, forged a deal early this morning.

The union's contract expired at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday and a walkout would have forced many of the 3.5 million commuters who use the transit service each day onto the roads.

New York had announced that if a strike occurred all vehicles carrying fewer than three people would be barred between 6 and 10 a.m. from several major city arteries and from all of Manhattan south of 96th Street. The city had considered developing a plan for alternate deliveries by trucks during off-hours.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said he expected traffic to be normal today.