The city Department of Transportation (DOT) announced Tuesday that it started construction on a sizable redesign of Brooklyn’s Bay Parkway and Cropsey Avenue — adding bus lanes to the two roadways that the agency says will hasten trips for 85,000 daily riders.
The undertaking will see the DOT paint a combination of offset and curbside bus lanes on Bay Parkway between Avenue J and Shore Parkway, covering nearly all of the thoroughfare that runs through the southern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Midwood, Borough Park, Bensonhurst, and Bath Beach. The redesign will also add bus lanes to Cropsey Avenue from Bay Parkway to 26th Avenue.
“We’re redesigning Bay Parkway and Cropsey Avenue with bus lanes and pedestrian improvements because Southern Brooklyn deserves fast buses, reliable service and safer streets,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a statement. “New Yorkers don’t have time to waste, and neither does our administration. We’re getting right to work building a public transit system that New Yorkers actually deserve.”
amNewYork first reported the project when DOT revealed it to Brooklyn Community Board 11 in June.
The lanes are intended to boost speeds on both the B6 and B82 buses — the first and fourth fastest routes in the borough respectively. Buses on Bay Parkway currently crawl at speeds as slow as 3 mph, according to the agency; by comparison, the average human walks between 3-4 mph.
DOT will install the offset bus lanes, which are placed away from the curb but are not in the center of the road, where it can, and curbside lanes on blocks where it needs space for left-turn lanes. The offset model allows DOT to preserve parking spots while increasing bus speeds, the agency said.
“Bus riders commuting between Midwood, Bensonhurst and Bath Beach deserve a fast and dignified commute, and we’re ready to help improve safety for everyone using the street,” said DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn.
“This redesign will increase bus speeds and reliability on two of Brooklyn’s busiest bus routes while better organizing traffic on two of the highest-crash corridors in the borough,” he added.
Brooklyn bus lanes are ‘Next Stop’ for city
The project was one of 50 included in “Next Stop” — the joint city and state blueprint for making buses move faster throughout the city. The scheme includes redesigns meant to shave up to six minutes off of trips on 175 bus routes that run on the 50 “priority corridors” it covers.
The agency will also add a slew of safety features to both roads, each of which DOT identified as priority corridors under its Vision Zero program to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries. Four people were killed, and another 26 were seriously injured in traffic crashes along the two stretches between 2021 and 2025, according to DOT.
The safety upgrades deploy a mixture of features including improved pedestrian ramps, 18 new median islands, painted median extensions, and painted curb extensions. Furthermore, it will add new left-turn lanes at 14 intersections where drivers make the turn, as well as restrictions on turns at other crossings along Bay Parkway.
In addition to installing the curbside bus lanes, DOT will also make curb adjustments aimed at preserving parking spaces. Among those tweaks, the agency will re-time parking meters, add new metered parking around the corner from busy blocks, and install new loading zones for local pick-ups and drop-offs and deliveries.