L Train Shutdown Will Make 14th St Busiest Bus Lane In USA: Study

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The pending L train shutdown will flood 14th Street with thousands of new bus commuters, making the stretch of roadway the busiest bus corridor per mile in the U.S., according to a new study.

The 15-month closure of the L train has long been expected to drastically complicate and lengthen many commutes, but the study, jointly released by the city's transportation department and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, shows just how much things will change.

The closure of the L train, which is expected to begin in April 2019, will increase the number of bus commuters on 14th Street to 84,000 people each day, according to the report.

Another likely result of the shutdown? A 300 percent increase in cyclists commuting into and out of Manhattan via the Williamsburg Bridge daily.

The DOT and MTA study, released on Thursday and first reported by Bedford and Bowery, shows just how drastically the L train shutdown could gridlock a city already frustrated with transportation delays.

The MTA and the city are currently planning a number of different methods to provide for former L train commuters, including additional bus and ferry service and more train service on alternate lines. In addition, the Williamsburg Bridge will only be open to vehicles with three or more passengers during peak hours.

The analysis also evaluated several bigger options for mitigating the shutdown, and cautioned that a "do-nothing" scenario that brings no significant changes to 14th Street would not be a "viable option," according to the report.

The report recommended several main strategies:

• The analysis supports restricting much of 14th Street to buses and some other permitted vehicles while closing much of the street to general traffic during peak hours. The report suggests restricting the westbound blocks between Third and Eighth avenues and the eastbound blocks between Ninth and Third avenues. Under this plan, only buses, emergency vehicles, Access-A-Ride vehicles, local deliveries and some private cars would be allowed on most of 14th Street.
• Transit officials are also proposing a new M14 Select Bus Service route that would run between a temporary East Side ferry terminal and 14th Street and Tenth Avenue. In combination with the existing M14A and M14D bus routes, the three buses could provide a bus every 1 to 2 minutes at peak times, according to the report.
• Authorities also plan to create a protected bike lane along 13th Street. As it is currently proposed, the two-way bike path would be separated from the roadway by dividers.

The MTA was forced to take the drastic option of halting L train service entirely to allow for critical repairs to the Canarsie Tunnel, which was badly damaged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Construction is scheduled to being in April 2019, and will halt all service between Brooklyn and Manhattan and within Manhattan. A stretch of the L train will continue to run in Brooklyn between Rockaway Parkway and Bedford Avenue during the shutdown.

You can read the full report here.

Image credit: Ciara McCarthy / Patch