Officials from NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony along East Gun Hill Road in Norwood on Tuesday, Oct. 31, marking the completion of the ‘Bus Priority and Safety Project.’ The project consisted of a dedicated bus lane and two bus boarding islands along a section of the roadway which transport officials say create a safer and faster bus service for the 40,000 riders traveling along the route everyday.

 

DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez was joined by Richard Davey, MTA president of New York City Transit, and Edgar Ramos, chair of Bronx Community Board 7’s Traffic & Transportation committee, on the day to discuss the project and take part in the official ceremony which took place across the street from the new bus boarding island at Hull Avenue and East Gun Hill Road.

 

As DOT officials were preparing a podium for the press conference, Kevin Maloney, a Norwood resident since 1978,  said he was not in favor of the new redesign and offered his insights, telling Norwood News, “It’s dangerous, because you have to go out into oncoming traffic and they fly up that hill on the right side lane.” He said riders exiting the back of the bus don’t tend to walk to either corner block and are blocked by a fence from crossing to the north side of the street and therefore tend to jaywalk across car traffic to cross over to get to the sidewalk.

Maloney added that cars looking to avoid tie-ups in the normal lane of traffic will use the bus lane to pass any backed up traffic and suggested putting the bus lane beside the curb instead of the outside traffic lane.

 

Meanwhile, DOT officials maintained the “East Gun Hill Road Bus Priority and Safety Project” along a “Vision Zero Priority Corridor” allows the Bx28 and Bx38 to travel faster and safer through the redesign of 20 intersections, including “traffic calming” devices along the 3-mile route connecting Bay Plaza and Co-Op City to Norwood. DOT officials referred to East Gun Hill Road both in prior presentations and verbally as “one of the most dangerous streets in the borough,” in terms of traffic collisions.

 

DOT Commissioner, and former City Councilman for north Manhattan, Ydanis Rodriguez, said at the press conference, “On average, five people have been injured every week in crashes on Gun Hill. Mayor (Eric) Adams and I, and the team at DOT say that’s unacceptable.”

Rodriguez said that the new boarding islands will make it safer for the one million disabled New Yorkers. He added, “Every New Yorker should feel safe in our streets, and we look forward to creating more projects to come.”

Meanwhile, of the bus redesign, Davey said, “The 28, the 38, the 41 sometimes are adding 15 to 17 minutes per trip because of the congestion along Gun Hill. These three miles will allow New Yorkers to get to and from where they’re going a lot more quickly, and our customers are telling us.”

For his part, Edgar Ramos, a member and former chair of the Bronx Community Board 7’s Traffic and Transportation committee, said of the redesign, “This is a very dangerous corridor. There’s a lot of schools, there’s a lot of children, so we’re hoping that these changes they’re making will help keep us safe and keep traffic moving.”

 

DOT officials previously said that enforcement will be a big component of the redesign plan, with one DOT press release referencing that mounted cameras on buses would be coming to East Gun Hill Road shortly. Meanwhile, some residents and business owners told Norwood News they were concerned that trucks unloading outside stores or broken down vehicles could stop the flow of traffic, forcing drivers into the bus lane.

 

Norwood News asked about this problem of drivers being ticketed for bypassing such traffic blockages and entering the bus lane, Davey responded, “The answer is if you’re not a bus, get out of the bus lane, period… So yes, respectfully, if you’re not a bus, get out of my lane.”

 

An unnamed DOT official added, “We’ve added loading zones along the corridor and looked at the parking regulations here at places where trucks actually do loading; that’s been one of our priorities.”

State Sen. Jamaal Bailey (S.D. 36) was not in attendance for the ribbon-cutting ceremony but in a DOT press release, had written, “The completion of the East Gun Hill Road bus project represents a significant milestone in our efforts to deliver faster, more reliable service and a safer future for all New Yorkers.”

 

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Carl Heastie (A.D. 83), who was not in attendance either, also included a statement in the DOT press release, writing, “Ensuring road safety for pedestrians and motorists creates a need for dedicated bus lanes and turning bays across New York City, especially here in The Bronx.”

 

Musa, the owner of Gun Hill 99 Cent Plus on East Gun Hill Road at Decatur Avenue, had told Norwood News in July when the bus lane and bus islands were being installed, “It causes more traffic; it wasn’t like this before.” He added a simple ride from the Bronx River Parkway that used to take a couple minutes now takes him as long as 20 minutes. He added, “And now there’s no parking anywhere.”

 

Several Norwood residents who live near East Gun Hill Road also said it’s not unusual having to spend two hours to find a parking space since the bus redesign.

 

We asked other Bronx residents for their thoughts on the redesign for our latest Inquiring Photographer feature, which can be read here.

 

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly referenced another author in error. This has since been corrected. We apologize for this error.