DOT starts DeKalb and Lafayette Avenue bus and protected bike lanes to speed up the B38
Crews began work Thursday on 2.7 miles of bus and protected bike lanes from Downtown Brooklyn through Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy and Bushwick. The B38 carries about 18,000 riders a day.
Photo: Kidfly182 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
- NYC DOT began construction Thursday on a redesign of DeKalb Avenue (Broadway to Flatbush Avenue) and Lafayette Avenue (Ashland Place to Patchen Avenue), the Mayor's Office and amNY said.
- The project adds 2.7 miles of offset and curbside bus lanes plus protected bike lanes aimed at speeding the B38, which carries about 18,000 daily riders, per the city and amNY.
- Buses on the corridors move as slowly as 4 mph at peak times, amNY reported, citing MTA data. DOT says 80% of residents within a quarter-mile of the B38 commute by transit, bike or walk.
- Since 2021, crashes on the two avenues injured 841 people, including 47 severe injuries and one fatality, according to the Mayor's Office and amNY citing DOT data.
- The work is part of the city-state "Next Stop" fast-bus plan covering 50 priority corridors and about 175 routes.
Brooklyn's B38 corridor is getting a paint-and-concrete makeover.
What started Thursday
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn announced the start of construction on a redesign of DeKalb Avenue from Broadway to Flatbush Avenue and Lafayette Avenue from Ashland Place to Patchen Avenue, according to a Mayor's Office release and amNY.
Both streets will get 2.7 miles of new offset and curbside bus lanes, protected bike lanes and other safety upgrades. AmNY notes the parallel one-way pair runs through Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick.
Why the B38
The project targets the B38, which carries about 18,000 riders a day. AmNY, citing MTA data, said buses on the corridors crawl as slowly as 4 mph in the morning and evening peaks.
DOT says 80% of people who live within a quarter-mile of the route commute by transit, bike or walking, and a majority of nearby households do not own a car — figures repeated in the Mayor's Office release and amNY.
Safety record
Since 2021, crashes on DeKalb and Lafayette have injured 841 people, including 47 severe injuries and one fatality, the city said. AmNY reported that pedestrians and cyclists accounted for 310 of those injuries and 22 of the severe ones.
Part of "Next Stop"
The redesign is one of the priority corridors in the city-state Next Stop: Fast Buses, Better Service plan with Governor Kathy Hochul and the MTA, covering about 175 routes. AmNY noted the administration has already finished a Bronx busway on Tremont Avenue and still has Fordham Road and Flatbush Avenue bus-lane work underway.
Neither the Mayor's Office nor amNY gave a completion date for DeKalb and Lafayette.
- NYC Mayor's OfficeFast Buses: Mayor Mamdani Breaks Ground on Project to Speed Up Buses and Make Streets Safer on DeKalb and Lafayette Avenues
- amNYBus and protected bike lane construction starts on Brooklyn's DeKalb and Lafayette Avenues as DOT looks to speed up commutes
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