New York City halted a plan to add a busway to Manhattan’s 34th Street after the Trump administration threatened to withold federal funding for other projects. Unveiled by the city’s Department of Transportation in May, the project adds a dedicated bus lane for a 1.1-mile stretch of the busy corridor, from Third to Ninth Avenues, as a way to speed up notoriously slow bus service. Last week, Federal Highway Administration Administrator Sean McMaster said the agency had several concerns with the busway, including the absence of a plan “to accommodate truckers” and “maintain access for emergency vehicles.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sent a letter to the city in September laying out concerns over the project, which is in the agency’s purview because it’s connected to the national highway system, according to McMaster.
In a second letter sent last Thursday, the FHWA said the agency is worried about the “lack of coordination between city and state transportation officials and the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Council” and said implementing the project “puts at risk decisions regarding pending and future Federal-aid projects.”
NYC DOT spokesperson Vincent Barone told the New York Times that work had been paused on the busway.
“The redesign for 34th Street mirrors other street designs from across the city and allows for truck, private and emergency vehicle access on every block,” Barone told the Times. “We are confident that the design complies with all applicable federal laws and regulations, and we will work with the federal government to advance this critical project.”
“I’m glad to see New York officials have agreed to halt the project and come to the table to discuss the project’s impact on the flow of traffic through one of the city’s most important corridors on our National Highway System,” McMaster said. “Ensuring our great truckers and emergency vehicles can safely access this important corridor with as few aversions as possible is top priority.”
New York City has the slowest buses in the country, traveling on average about 8 miles per hour. On 34th Street, the M34/M34A Select Bus Service moves 5 miles per hour during an average weekday peak and can go as low as 3 miles per hour.
The Midtown bus project is modeled after the 14th Street busway, which increased bus speeds along the corridor by 24 percent and reduced crashes by 42 percent.
Like the 14th Street lane, trucks, emergency vehicles, and Access-a-Ride are allowed to travel along the entrie corridor. Other vehicles, including cars and taxis, can enter via side steets, but must leave the corridor at the next legal turn.
The 34th Street busway is the latest New York transportation project targeted by the Trump administration, which has used the government shutdown to end federally-funded projects in states run by Democrats.
Trump said the Gateway project, the $16 billion Hudson River tunnel project, will be “terminated” to punish Sen. Chuck Schumer and witheld federal funds for the Second Avenue Subway extension into Harlem. The president has also made efforts to end congestion pricing; a federal judge is expected to rule on whether the program can continue in the coming weeks.
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