Work finally began this week on long-delayed dedicated bus lanes along a congested stretch of Madison Avenue. On Friday, the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn announced that work has started on extending double bus lanes along the avenue from 23rd to 42nd Streets, a project aimed at improving commutes for about 92,000 daily riders who often deal with bus speeds as low as 4.5 miles per hour. The agency expects the project to be finished over the next several weeks.
Madison Avenue currently has two bus lanes, two travel lanes, and one parking lane from 60th Street to 42nd Street, serving 34 local and express bus routes. According to DOT data, buses along the corridor are frequently slowed by traffic below 42nd Street. Despite this, 55 percent of people are riding buses along the stretch, even though there is no dedicated lane for them.
To address the issue, the DOT proposed in 2025 extending the double bus lane design down to 23rd Street, with plans to complete the project last year. However, the project was indefinitely stalled under former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration after the city “missed the last painting season,” Deputy Mayor for Operations Julia Kerson told Gothamist in January.
DOT data shows that double bus lanes can significantly increase bus speeds. On nearby Fifth Avenue, the introduction of double lanes boosted local bus speeds by six to 12 percent and express bus speeds by 11 to 20 percent, as 6sqft previously reported.
Upon taking office in January, Mayor Zohran Mamdani directed the DOT to move forward with the long-delayed project. The move marks another transportation initiative stalled or killed under the Adams administration, which Mamdani has sought to revive early in his term.
That month, Mamdani also announced the city would restore the original “road-diet” plan for Greenpoint’s dangerous McGuinness Boulevard, which had been scaled back amid allegations that a neighborhood film production company bribed a senior administration official.
He has also revived the bike lane redesign for Astoria’s 31st Street, which was partially built under Adams but later ordered removed by a judge after the project was found to have failed to follow proper procedures.
“For too long, New Yorkers have been forced to watch critical infrastructure projects be slowed, scaled back, or scrapped altogether by an administration that lacked urgency. That ends now,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
“By moving forward with work on Madison, we are choosing a city that works for the many, not the few. Faster, more reliable buses mean thousands of working people get where they need to go on time. And by shortening commutes, we’re returning invaluable time to New Yorkers. That’s what a functional transit system should deliver for every New Yorker,” he added.
In addition to revisiting previously stalled projects, the Mamdani administration has advanced several other transportation initiatives since January. On Wednesday, the mayor announced that the DOT will begin installing center-running bus lanes along Brooklyn’s Linden Boulevard between Fountain Avenue and Conduit Avenue in East New York.
A similar project is also underway on Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue, which is receiving dedicated center lanes from Livingston Street to Grand Army Plaza. The redesign includes dedicated boarding areas with covered seating, shorter crossing distances, and 29,000 square feet of new pedestrian space along the corridor.
Last May, the DOT also unveiled plans for a dedicated lane on 34th Street between Third and Ninth Avenues for buses, trucks, and emergency vehicles, a project expected to improve speeds by up to 15 percent for more than two dozen bus routes that serve the corridor. The plan was halted in October after the Trump administration threatened to withhold funding for other projects due to the lack of coordination between city and state officials and the federal government, as 6sqft reported
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