DOT set to begin work on Flushing Busway next month

A pedestrian crosses Main Street near Kissena Boulevard Wednesday, April 1. ap photo/Frank franklin ii

By Rachel Vick

A contentious plan to transform a section of Main Street to a bus-only roadway will move ahead within the next two weeks, the Department of Transportation told the local community board Friday. 

The DOT informed Community Board 7 of the plan to create the busway following a months-long delay and opposition from some local leaders. Others in the community, including transportation activists, say the busway will facilitate travel for the majority of Flushing residents who do not have cars while enabling more people to visit local businesses along Main Street.

The DOT said the first steps to establish the Flushing Busway include installing signs, painting markings on the street and limiting parking on the 0.3-mile stretch of Main Street between Sanford Avenue and Northern Boulevard.

Under the busway plan, announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio in June, the DOT would prevent cars from traveling north and south along the entire 0.3-mile strip of Main Street between Northern Boulevard and Sanford Avenue. Drivers that enter that section of roadway will be forced to make the next available turn. The southbound lanes already serve as a busway, where car drivers must turn east or west within a block of entering Main Street.

Roughly 170,000 riders rely on the 11 bus routes that traverse that section of Main Street, according to pre-pandemic numbers from the DOT.

“By prioritizing bus riders on one of the city's busiest streets, the busway will also serve as a beacon of equity in a diverse community,” said Riders Alliance Senior Organizer Jolyse Race.

While advocates say a busway would improve business, not everyone is as enthusiastic about the implementation of the plan. 

Local leaders and elected officials, like Councilmember Peter Koo, have criticized the plan while Flushing continues to struggle with the blowback from the pandemic.

“The mayor has described his efforts to create this busway as an ‘urgent need,’ but he is content to ignore so many other pressing issues our community faces every day such as rising unemployment, shuttered businesses, and countless illegal street vendors overwhelming our streets,” Koo said in a statement Monday. 

“This is the wrong plan at the wrong time and could be the dagger in the heart of what was once a vibrant Flushing community.”