14th Street To Become 17-Hour-A-Day Busway During L Shutdown

GRAMERCY, NY — Transportation officials aim to turn 14th Street spanning from Gramercy to the West Village into a "busway" for 17 hours a day as part of the L train shutdown commuting plan, according to court documents reviewed by The Daily News.

The city plans to limit car traffic on the street, from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, while Canarsie Tunnel under the East River is shuttered for 15-months to fix damage from Superstorm Sandy, according to details from the MTA in a court document on the shutdown, the News first reported.

Under the plan, 14th Street from Ninth to Third avenues eastbound and Third to Eighth avenues westbound will be converted. The city's Department of Transportation, which is working with the MTA on the plan to transport displaced commuters, will also change its bike lane plan to two one-way bike paths on 12th and 13th streets instead of a single two-way path on 13th Street, according to the newspaper.

The plan allows driver to make pickups and drop-offs on the street with greater ease. Drivers will only be permitted to drive for one block — and it will be enforced by cameras. Roughly one bus per minute will roll along 14th Street during the shutdown, officials told the paper.

Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg told the Daily News the decision is a happy medium for Manhattan residents who want vehicle access on 14th street and Brooklyn commuters who want the street limited to buses around the clock.

“We’re solving, hopefully, the local mobility and access challenge while discouraging through traffic on 14th St.,” Trottenberg told The News.

Photo courtesy of Maria Cormack-Pitts/Patch