NYC Mayor Mamdani breaks ground on bus-only lane project in the Bronx
On March 24, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, alongside New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn and NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Acting Commissioner Eduardo del Valle broke ground on a bus-only lane project that will improve Bronx crosstown bus service and street safety near Yankee Stadium.
The project will add westbound bus-only lanes, including converting the 161st Street underpass to buses only. The redesign also includes pedestrian safety upgrades and new amenities for bus riders, including bus shelters, benches and leaning bars, along with pedestrian refuges and infrastructure to make boarding buses safer and more accessible. According to NYC DOT, the corridor serves 25,000 daily riders on the Bx6 Select Bus Service (SBS).
“This project will help link some of the busiest areas of Manhattan and the Bronx with a fast and safe bus route and access to vital civic resources, moving closer to the administration’s goal of a great bus network for every neighborhood,” del Valle said.
The project will reconstruct and redesign East 161st Street from Ruppert Place to Morris Avenue, including portions of East 163rd Street between Washington Avenue and Tiffany Street, as well as segments of the Bx6-SBS route in Manhattan.
“We are pleased that the city is moving forward with the long-planned effort to make 161st Street more bus friendly,” said Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit Executive Vice President of Buses Frank Farrell. “It’s good news for South Bronx bus riders, and we look forward to celebrating even more improvements throughout the five boroughs because nothing makes buses faster than clear streets.”
As part of the redesign, the city will create a fully protected, center-running bus lane along East 161st Street from Concourse Village West to just west of River Avenue—one of the only corridors of its kind in New York City. Construction has already begun on East 163rd Street between Intervale Avenue and Tiffany Street.
The project will upgrade the existing eastbound bus tunnel under the Grand Concourse to bus-only use in both directions. Currently, the tunnel is restricted to eastbound buses. To complement this change, three blocks of westbound 161st Street on either side of the tunnel will also be converted to bus-only.
The city will install full-length concrete boarding islands along center-running bus lanes to improve safety, shorten pedestrian crossing distances and prevent vehicles from blocking bus lanes. Additional improvements include sidewalk extensions, known as bus bulbs, at bus stops along the Bx6 route to speed up boarding and create space for seating and bus shelters.
NYC DOT says curb extensions, medians and pedestrian refuge islands will shorten crossing distances and improve visibility. Existing painted safety features will be upgraded to concrete and extend the sidewalk out to new curblines.
According to NYC DOT, pedestrian refuge islands have been shown to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 35.5% while curb and sidewalk extensions reduce them by 34.1%. The city will also rebuild, expand and landscape medians at East 161st Street and River Avenue.
The project includes 370 ADA-compliant pedestrian ramps, 57 new trees and approximately 8,000 plantings of grass and perennials. More than 100 new street lighting and traffic signal poles will be installed and 16 fire hydrants will be upgraded.
Crews will reconstruct about 45,000 square yards of roadway and upgrade or add more than 180,000 square feet of sidewalk. Below ground, more than 4,500 feet of water mains and sewers will be upgraded and additional catch basins will be added to improve drainage. Construction is expected to continue through 2028.
“I’m grateful to Mayor Mamdani, NYC DOT and DDC for advancing these important improvements along the Bx6 corridor in Manhattan, strengthening a critical connection between Manhattan and the Bronx,” said Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal.