The Mamdani administration is restarting work to improve the Fordham Road bus lanes, more than two years after they were nixed by the administration of former mayor Eric Adams.
“Today we begin work to deliver major upgrades for faster and more reliable bus service along Fordham Rd.,” NYC Transit Commissioner Mike Flynn told reporters at a Wednesday press conference. “The way Fordham Rd. works today doesn’t work well for anyone, and the 130,000 bus riders who rely on those buses know that better than anybody.”
The road, a major east-west thoroughfare through the Bronx, is the busiest bus corridor in the borough.
It was briefly among the bus routes slated for major improvements under Mayor Mamdani’s predecessor, Adams — whose Department of Transportation explored making the street bus-only, before settling on a plan that would move the existing bus lanes in from the curb while still allowing private vehicular traffic on the street.
But that plan to develop “offset” bus lanes that would allow curbside deliveries while retaining two center lanes for cars and trucks, drew the ire of some local business leaders, as well as Fordham University and the Bronx Zoo.
The Adams admin caved, and the plan was shelved in 2023 in favor of simply repainting the existing curbside bus lanes.
Evan Simko-Bednarski / New York Daily News
A vehicle blocks the faded bus lane along Fordham Rd. in the Bronx on July 11, 2023. (Evan Simko-Bednarski / New York Daily News)
Mamdani teased a restart of the shelved “offset” plan, among others, in February. This week, Flynn said, the work begins.
“The bus lanes today are along the curb,” Flynn said. “That’s also where businesses need to get their deliveries, where drivers make their pickup and drop-off, and we know there’s a design that can work better.”
The renewed plan will install the offset lanes along the bulk of Fordham Rd. — from Bronx Park to Sedgwick Ave.
Flynn said similar improvements along Hillside Ave. in Queens have sped up buses by 28%.
“Our pledge on Fordham Rd. is to increase speeds by at least 20%, and we won’t stop making upgrades until we hit that target,” Flynn said.
Evan Simko-Bednarski / New York Daily News
A vehicle blocks the faded bus lane along Fordham Rd. in the Bronx on July 11, 2023. (Evan Simko-Bednarski / New York Daily News)
Fordham Rd. is home to the Bx12, Bx9, Bx17 and Bx22 bus routes, which travel down the corridor at an average speed of 5mph, Flynn said.
“Bronx bus riders deserve better,” he said.
Speaking at the presser, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D, Bronx) lauded the return to the bus lane plan.
“What we’re celebrating is the ability of people … to not have to move their damn car,” he told reporters.
After a passer-by interrupted the press conference by approaching the lectern to banter, Rivera took it in stride. “We want to make buses faster so that folks can go and crash press conferences quicker,” he deadpanned.