A temporary restraining order blocking the installation of a new bus-only lane in Flushing, Queens has been lifted, allowing the Department of Transportation to move forward with the stalled project in a busy section of the neighborhood transit hub.
The 0.3 mile stretch would be for buses only, similar to the 14th Street busway which has successfully sped up bus times by between 22% and 47%, and was also the subject of several lawsuits, all eventually dropped.
The petitioners, a group of Chinese businesses in Flushing including a couple restaurants, the New World Mall food court, and an OB/GYN, attempted to block the busway, claiming that their customers would have difficulty finding parking at the New World Mall parking garage due to the new traffic pattern created by the busway. They also argued that the plan is irrational and arbitrary.
Judge Kevin Kerrigan wrote that the petitioners' concern about side streets being flooded with traffic was “speculative” and not based on any data. Kerrigan noted that the purpose of the busway was to eliminate overall traffic while allowing commercial traffic to continue.
“This plan is clearly not arbitrary, and the data and studies upon which it is based rationally relate to the plan,” Kerrigan said, adding that the opponents failed to provide enough evidence to support a preliminary injunction, and that the head of the DOT was free to prioritize mass transit over private vehicle traffic.
The court “won’t second-guess that decision,” he wrote.
Mayor Bill de Blasio applauded the ruling, saying it is “more than just good news for the 150,000 New Yorkers who will use the Flushing Main Street busway every day. It’s a victory for everyone who believes that mass transit is the future of this city and the engine of our economic recovery.”
A senior organizer with the group Riders Alliance, Jolyse Race, celebrated the decision as a win of policy over politics: "Just as Trump and his supporters can't overturn the vote, neither can courts 'invade the province' of transportation policymakers on behalf of a few rich NIMBYs."
The Department of Transportation did not respond to questions about when installation of the Flushing Main Street busway would begin.
The petitioners that filed the restraining order to block the busway now have 30 days to challenge the judge’s decision. City lawyers say the initial lawsuit is still pending, but the DOT has the green light to open the busway if it chooses.
