A plan to add dedicated bus lanes along 96th Street has sparked outrage from some Upper West Side residents. The Department of Transportation proposal, first introduced to Manhattan Community Boards 7, 8, and 11 in May, would limit general traffic along the corridor to a single lane and convert the outer traffic lanes into dedicated bus lanes. During a press conference on Thursday, a group of local residents and elected officials said the plan will exacerbate existing congestion issues and further affect the quality of life in the area, as local news site I Love the Upper West Side reported.
The plan would also add an eastbound “queue jump” signal at 96th Street and Central Park West, westbound at 97th Street and Fifth Avenue, and both east and westbound at 96th Street and Third Avenue.
DOT argues that the proposal would help speed up bus travel along the route, which serves roughly 15,000 riders a day and where bus speeds are known to be as slow as 4 miles per hour, according to the agency.
The presentation also highlighted potential safety benefits for 96th Street, which currently ranks within the top 10 percent of streets with the most people killed or seriously injured per mile. In the past five years, the corridor has seen 391 injuries, including 44 that resulted in death or severe harm.
DOT referenced two similar projects that have proven successful: 21st Street in Queens, where morning weekday peak bus speeds increased by 10 percent and injuries decreased by eight percent; and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, where afternoon weekday peak bus speeds increased by 19 percent and injuries decreased by 24 percent.
“It will be a great opportunity that we are taking advantage of to redesign 96th Street in a way that the riderships of those buses move through 96th Street quickly and faster,” DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said, according to I Love the Upper West Side.
The West 96th Street Neighbors Coalition, joined by Council Member Gale Brewer, rallied against the city’s plan on Thursday.
In an official statement opposing the proposed changes, the coalition said: “any delays in bus travel are due to loading many passengers through a single bus door.”
“Dedicated bus lanes will adversely affect residents’ quality of life by cutting residents’ buildings off from the street, preventing passenger loading and unloading for taxis, disabled people, and school children, and making it impossible to make deliveries… the bus lanes will increase traffic congestion by confining all traffic, including turning cars, to a single lane.”
Additionally, the Coalition is concerned about the $250 fines for idling in the bus lane, which will be enforced by bus-mounted cameras. According to the city, fines for driving, parking, or idling in a bus lane start at $50.
Sara Lind, co-executive director of grassroots advocacy group Open Plans, said opposition to the bus lane “isn’t just out-of-touch, it’s not factual.”
“This is a smart, common-sense proposal from DOT that puts the bus lane in the existing travel lane — meaning it won’t change a thing about residents’ access to the curb, or their free parking,” Lind said.
“What it will do is provide faster service for 96th Street’s daily bus riders, who are crawling along at a ridiculous four miles an hour on average.”
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