![\"Flatbush](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/map-flatbush-ave-redesi-wcbshn76-hi-res-still.jpg#.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nConstruction began Tuesday on a major redesign of Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
The long-planned project, city officials say, will improve safety and speed up bus service along one of the borough’s busiest corridors.<\/p>\n
Project aims to speed up buses<\/p>\n
Officials broke ground on the project, which will stretch from Livingston Street to Grand Army Plaza, and will include center-running bus lanes. They say the layout is intended to reduce delays for mass transit commuters.<\/p>\n
“That means riders will no longer suffer behind double-parked cars, and commuters won’t lose time as buses that weave in and out of the curb lane for pick-up and drop off slow everything down,” said Mike Flynn, NYC Department of Transportation commissioner.<\/p>\n
The city estimates the project will affect more than 130,000 daily bus riders and improve travel times along the corridor.<\/p>\n
“It’s fabulous to have partners in government who are ready to do what’s necessary to make the streets really receptive to buses,” said Janno Lieber, chair and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Flatbush Avenue redesign stretching from Livingston Street to Grand Army Plaza will include center-running bus lanes.<\/p>\n
CBS News New York<\/p>\n
Officials say bus speeds along Flatbush Avenue are among the slowest in the city.<\/p>\n
“The current speed of a bus today on Flatbush Avenue is four miles an hour. I can walk faster than four miles an hour,” Brooklyn Councilmember Lincoln Restler said.<\/p>\n
Construction is expected to continue through the fall. \u00a0<\/p>\n
“The B41 and B67 buses will continue to serve Flatbush Ave. during construction. There will be some temporary bus stops in effect during construction to avoid work zones. And we’ll continue to maintain a travel lane in each direction at all times,” Flynn said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Redesign follows autumn 2025 installations<\/p>\n
The redesign follows earlier installations of center-running bus lanes on other city streets last fall, which drew mixed reactions<\/a> from commuters.<\/p>\n “People with wheelchairs and who have difficulty walking will now have to cross the street just to get on the bus,” Allan Rosen, a retired director of Bus Planning at the MTA, said in late 2025. “And it’s going to make traffic move at a standstill.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Others say the improvements will benefit all bus riders in the area.<\/p>\n “Any kind of change is going to have some growing pains associated with it. What I always keep in mind is that we all want the same thing … better public transit,” said Derrick Holmes of Riders Alliance. “We all want safer streets.”<\/p>\n The Department of Transportation says similar designs in other parts of the city have already led to safer conditions and faster bus service.<\/p>\n Have a story idea or tip in Brooklyn? Email Hannah by\u00a0CLICKING HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n