New York City’s Department of Transportation is rolling out a redesigned network of truck routes, which are meant to keep the big vehicles off Gotham’s residential streets.
The redesign, mandated by the City Council in a 2023 law, adds slightly more than 40 miles to the city’s 1970s-era network of truck routes, with roughly half of them on or leading to highways. DOT officials say the plan streamlines truck access to highways and industrial zones.
“Truck routes keep truck traffic off local streets and on designated corridors with the capacity to handle the safe movement of both people and freight,” Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn said in a statement. “As our city grows, designating truck routes with intention and redesigning the corridors they run on with vigilance will contribute to healthier, safer and more prosperous communities across the five boroughs.”
City law requires trucks to complete as much of their journey as possible through the Big Apple on the designated routes before reaching their destination. A truck is allowed to leave the network of routes in order to make a delivery — but not, say, to avoid traffic.
The update is largely in line with a proposal made by the department this spring — although community feedback led DOT to remove a proposed truck route on Brooklyn’s Third Ave. between 65th St. and 86th St. from the plan.
In total, the plan will add roughly 11 miles of truck routes to Brooklyn, nearly 4 miles in the Bronx, 16 miles in Queens, 14 in Staten Island and nearly 1.5 miles in Manhattan.
Meanwhile, about 5 miles of existing truck routes will be removed citywide.
A DOT spokesperson said the department will make upgrades to the roads involved in the truck routes to improve pedestrian visibility and safety.