A long stretch of 34th St. will be reserved for buses and cars going to local businesses only by year’s end, according to the Department of Transportation, as the city prepares to begin work next month to turn the east-west thoroughfare into a crosstown busway.
According to a letter sent by DOT to local elected officials Monday, reviewed by the Daily News, work on the busway is expected to begin in the second week of October.
The project — initially proposed by the city in May before Mayor Adams’ administration paused the plan in July — will restrict traffic along the 34th St between Third Ave. and Ninth Ave. to bus traffic from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Private cars will be allowed to enter the street in order to visit local businesses, but will not be permitted to travel more than a single block at a time for that purpose.
In addition to signage indicating the new busway rules, work on 34th St. will include parking meters in an effort to discourage long-term parking on the street.
The work is expected to take several weeks.
“Busway regulations will go into effect at the conclusion of implementation, which is anticipated for November or December 2025,” the letter reads.
The busway is meant to build on the success of it’s southern counterpart, the 14th St. busway, which sped up bus travel significantly in 2019.
City data shows buses on 34th St. currently travel at speeds ranging from 3 mph on the low end to 5 mph — slower than the Manhattan-wide average bus speed of 6 mph.
“Most commuters in Midtown are traveling by transit and they deserve world-class, fast, and reliable buses,” DOT commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement. “Busways bring dramatically faster and more reliable service and we are excited to get started on this transformative project.”
Rodriguez added that the 34th St. busway is intended to support the city’s Midtown South rezoning plan, which aims to bring 9,500 new units of housing to the Garment District.
