After years of stops and starts, New York City is finally moving forward with plans to install bus lanes on a busy stretch of Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, where gridlock regularly creates hellish commutes for thousands of riders.
The city's Department of Transportation on Wednesday released proposals to replace car lanes with bus-only lanes in each direction of the avenue, between Livingston Street and Grand Army Plaza, and said it plans to make the change next summer. That’s two years later than DOT officials previously said they would install the lanes.
City officials in early 2023 proposed adding bus lanes along to street that year but announced no further progress on the project until this week. The advancement of the plan comes as Mayor Eric Adams has faced criticism from transit advocates for slowing the rollout of new bus and bike lanes across the five boroughs.
If the DOT makes good on its plan this time around, it could be a boon for Flatbush Avenue bus riders who suffer through service that moves at about 4 mph during the busiest parts of the day. That's only slightly faster than the average walking pace.
“By redesigning Flatbush Avenue, we can speed up bus service to improve the lives of nearly 70,000 daily bus riders currently stuck on one of the most congested corridors in Brooklyn — while also enhancing pedestrian safety,” said Vincent Barone, a spokesperson for the department.
Barone said the DOT will begin public outreach on three bus lane design proposals for the stretch of Flatbush, all of which take away space from drivers. The department will also look into traffic data and plans to pitch a final design next winter.
An aerial view of renderings showing the DOT's three proposals for bus lane designs on Flatbush Avenue.
One proposal would add concrete islands for passengers and bus lanes in the center of the road. Another would install bus lanes next to the curb on both sides of the street and ban parking other than what the proposal calls “expeditious pickups and dropoffs” during the hours the lanes are enforced. The third would replace a traffic lane with a bus lane without getting rid of parking spaces for cars.
Transportation officials said they eventually plan to add bus lanes along Flatbush Avenue all the way down to Kings Plaza, but added that they are prioritizing the northern corridor because it’s the most congested section of the street.
The B41 bus is the primary route that runs along Flatbush Avenue. About 21,000 riders use it daily, but double-parked cars regularly block its path.
A report from the DOT also noted that the section of Flatbush in Downtown Brooklyn has one of the city's highest rates of traffic crashes. Since 2019, 55 people were killed or severely injured there.
The city is also conducting public outreach on a planned redesign another source of congestion for buses: the traffic circle at Grand Army Plaza. One of the DOT's proposals for the area would ban traffic on the south side of the plaza that connects Union Street and Eastern Parkway.
