Simply in time for Opening Day, the Mamdani administration introduced as we speak that building has formally begun on a serious undertaking to enhance crosstown bus service and pedestrian security alongside East 161st Avenue close to Yankee Stadium. The undertaking will deliver westbound bus-only lanes, convert the 161st Avenue underpass to buses solely, and create one of many metropolis’s solely absolutely protected, center-running bus lanes stretching from Concourse Village West to simply west of River Avenue.
For the greater than 25,000 every day riders who depend upon the Bx6 Choose Bus Service to get throughout the South Bronx, that is welcome information. For those who’ve ever tried to take the Bx6 throughout 161st Avenue on a sport day—or any day, actually—you realize the frustration of sitting in a bus that’s barely transferring whereas vehicles, double-parked vans, and common chaos flip the hall right into a parking zone.
We’ve been protecting the necessity for higher bus infrastructure in The Bronx for years now. Again in 2017, when town introduced six new Choose Bus Service strains coming to The Bronx, we famous that crosstown mass transit within the borough was completely abysmal. The Bx6 SBS was supposed to assist repair that, and to its credit score, it did—barely. However “barely” isn’t adequate while you’re a working guardian making an attempt to get throughout the borough to choose up your child earlier than afterschool closes or just making an attempt to get round.
The brand new undertaking will reconstruct East 161st Avenue from Ruppert Place to Morris Avenue, together with parts of East 163rd Avenue between Washington Avenue and Tiffany Avenue. Concrete boarding islands will substitute the present setup, stopping vehicles from blocking bus lanes, one thing we’ve documented occurring repeatedly alongside different corridors. Full-length bus bulbs at stops will velocity up boarding and at last give riders correct shelters and seating.
If this sounds acquainted, it ought to. When bus lanes got here to 149th Avenue again in 2020, we have been cautiously optimistic. However as we reported the next yr, these lanes have been plagued with vehicles and vans constantly parked in them between Morris Avenue and Bergen at The Hub. With out enforcement, painted lanes are simply strategies. That’s why the concrete infrastructure on this new undertaking issues; you possibly can’t park on a concrete island.
The pedestrian security enhancements are equally important. Curb extensions, medians, and pedestrian refuge islands will shorten crossing distances close to the stadium—an space that sees over three million guests a yr and the place dodging site visitors has develop into a sport in itself even when the Yankees aren’t enjoying at house. Town says pedestrian refuge islands cut back deaths and critical accidents by 35.5%, a welcome statistic with each growing pedestrian deaths throughout town.
After the Bronx Bus Redesign was carried out, the MTA reported that Bronx bus routes went from a few of the slowest within the metropolis to outperforming the remainder of the system. That momentum must proceed and this undertaking, with a 2028 completion date, might be an actual sport changer for bus commuters within the South Bronx—pun supposed.
However as at all times, the proof is within the execution, not the press convention. Development has already began on East 163rd Avenue and the DDC says they’ll section work to keep away from interfering with baseball season. Now let’s maintain them to that promise and ensure this undertaking delivers for the tens of hundreds of Bronxites who depend upon these buses each single day, not simply the followers heading to the stadium.
