Congested stretch of Jamaica Avenue will go bus-only, de Blasio says
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A congested 0.9-mile stretch of Jamaica Avenue will be redeveloped as a busway, banning cars for much of the day. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
By David Brand
A nearly one-mile stretch of congested Jamaica Avenue will soon close to cars to make way for a new bus-only route, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.
The decision received praise from transit advocates, but raised eyebrows among local leaders who said the concept needed more consideration.
Under the new plan, the Department of Transportation will create a 0.9-mile busway along the commercial corridor of Jamaica Avenue, from Sutphin Boulevard east to 168th Street, as well as a 0.3-mile strip of Flushing’s Main Street, de Blasio said. The new busways are modeled off the bus-only route along 14th Street in Manhattan, where cars are banned during much of the day to facilitate east-to-west travel across the island.
“By replicating the 14th Street success story in other congested corridors, we can reduce traffic, increase mass transit service, and build a fairer and better New York,” de Blasio said.
Buses traveling along that strip of Jamaica Avenue serve 225,000 riders a day, according to the DOT, but the street is notorious for its traffic jams and slow bus speeds. The intersection of Jamaica Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard, a block from the JFK AirTrain/Sutphin Boulevard subway station, is routinely crammed with MTA buses serving eight lines. Drivers there must maneuver around pedestrians crossing streets, cars turning toward the court buildings or heading deeper into Jamaica, and dozens of buses stopping, at times in long lines, to pick up passengers.
Public transportation advocates hailed the decision to eliminate cars and facilitate buses along the busy thoroughfare.
"The Jamaica Avenue busway is great news for Queens bus riders,” said Riders Alliance spokesperson Danny Pearlstein. “With today's commitment, the City makes a stride toward cementing those gains and putting riders first on busy streets.”
Transportation Alternatives Queens organizer Juan Restrepo said busways provide “fast, predictable bus service and more space for pedestrians to socially distance.”
Local councilmembers, however, pushed back against what they characterized as an abrupt announcement of the plan.
In a perhaps telling public relations move , just one councilmember — Ydanis Rodriguez in northern Manhattan — was quoted in the City Hall press release announcing citywide busway plans. The three lawmakers representing the stretch of Jamaica Avenue and nearby communities bristled at the lack of input from local business groups and community boards.
“We must ensure that busways and redesigns truly serve the public,” said Southeast Queens Councilmember Adrienne Adams, who called the plan’s rollout during a de Blasio press briefing “unacceptable.”
Councilmember Rory Lancman, who represents the north side of Jamaica Avenue along much of the proposed busway, said he was disappointed de Blasio and the DOT would move ahead with the plan without much input.
“It came completely out of left field,” Lancman said.
“I told the city when they broached the subject with me a couple weeks ago that there needed to be consultation with all the key stakeholders, including the [Business Improvement Districts], the community boards, the courts,” he continued. “None of that has happened.”
Proposed changes to the Jamaica transit network have long been proposed to ease commute times for local residents, many of whom travel into Manhattan. The Jamaica NOW Action Plan, which dates back to 2014, notes that more than 50 city and regional bus lines course through Jamaica. That plan championed a new Select Bus Service Route from Jamaica to Flushing and the study of new public transit-oriented plans.
The debate over the 14th Street busway tended to focus on the impact the plan would have on local businesses. Some business groups argued that reduced traffic and parking would discourage their customers from visiting.
Lancman said he would not oppose a busway under the right circumstances, but he said the plan requires far more consideration and review.
“The congestion in Downtown Jamaica is a major problem that we want fixed and I’m open to any idea that the city can demonstrate can relieve traffic,” he said. “I don’t want to be a naysayer, but this has to be thought through.”
Lancman and Councilmember I. Daneek Miller said a busway would be more appropriate along Archer Avenue, which runs parallel to Jamaica Avenue but has fewer businesses.
“I’m hoping it’s merely a typo,” Miller said. “We need to get it right and I’m not sure why, quite frankly, we’re talking about Jamaica Avenue and not Archer Avenue.”
Miller, a former MTA bus driver, said he “dismayed by the lack of engagement” in the planning process, but he said a busway would relieve travel times for Queens commuters who spend unnecessary hours each week inside buses stuck in traffic.
“I think it’s long overdue that we make surface transportation a priority,” he said. “This corridor has been particularly important to us and we need a bus corridor because Southeast Queens is primarily a borough that relies on buses.”
“If you live on one side of town and your cousin lives on the other, you’re not going to visit that cousin unless you have a car,” he added. “That’s the way Queens is and it has to change.”
