Work begins on Fordham Road bus lane redesign
The city's Department of Transportation and the MTA announced work is beginning to change bus lanes on Fordham Road, aimed at making buses faster.
A backup of cars and buses on Fordham Road is a typical sight that often leads to a slowdown of traffic, especially for the estimated 130,000 daily bus riders along the Fordham Road route.
“The commute every morning to work, the buses are either too slow," said Shenene Bryant, a bus rider, "Or there's not enough extra-wide buses.”
The city says at times buses on the route travel less than 5 mph.
Now it’s trying to change that by redesigning the busy corridor. New "offset" bus lanes are being constructed from Bronx Park to Sedgwick Avenue.
"It’s about saving people time, saving money," said NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn, "And making commutes more comfortable and a lot less stressful."
“These lanes mean more Bronx residents get to go where they need to go," MTA transit president Demetrius Crichlow said, "Faster, safer, more reliable.”
The bus lanes will no longer be along the curb and the curbside lane will now be for deliveries to businesses and pick-ups and drop-offs.
The city says removing a bus lane will allow for clear bus paths that will be less congested because most of the community uses mass transit over cars.
It's meant to stop cars from blocking the bus lane. Here's what will happen - the bus lanes will no longer be along the curb. The curbside lane will now be for deliveries and pickups and dropoffs. The city says this will make a clear path for buses.
Riders say that they like the idea.
"Anything to improve a better way for us to commute," Bryant said.
"That would help because you got a lot of busy things happening here," bus rider Maria Pagain said. "So that's actually good. If they're going to give it extra space for all the commuters that have to take it, including myself."
The changes also mean losing one lane for cars. Some residents previously told News 12 they’re worried it will now bring more car traffic and chaos.
City officials responded to these concerns.
“Honestly, with this type of design, what we see is that it actually brings more order to the street," Flynn said. "There's less of a need for double parking because we're going to have better curb regulations, which means that drivers shouldn't even need to be in the bus lane. It'll be very clear; the turns and things like that will be better managed."
“The reality is that the chaos - what we're trying to do is reorganize that," said state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, who represents the Bronx, "To prioritize the folks that actually use Fordham Road.”
The new bus lanes are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
