63-block dedicated bus lane proposed for 6th Avenue
Photo of 6th Avenue and 56th Street. Photo by Tdorante10 via Wikimedia Commons
The city wants to add 63 blocks of offset bus lanes along Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) on Friday unveiled a proposal for a dedicated bus lane that runs from Watts Street in Soho to 58th Street in Midtown, along with a wider bike lane from 36th Street to 59th Street. As first reported by amNY, the city presented the plan to Manhattan Community Board 4 this week and will release a final proposal incorporating feedback before installation.
According to the city, the plan would deliver safety and speed upgrades to the corridor. Sixth Avenue serves more than 51,000 daily bus riders on four local and 27 express routes.
Despite that high usage, buses move as slowly as 3.5 miles per hour—the average walking speed. Express buses can slow to as little as 4.2 miles per hour during evening peak hours.
The avenue is also designated a Vision Zero priority corridor, meaning it ranks among the highest in pedestrian deaths and serious injuries in Manhattan. Bus and bike lane upgrades would improve safety by improving traffic flow along the corridor.
New painted curb extensions, pedestrian islands, and other “turn-calming treatments” would shorten crossing distances and slow turning vehicles. Similar redesigns on Third Avenue were shown to increase bus speeds by up to 14 percent, while injuries decreased by 28 percent.
A new offset bus lane would be added from Watts Street to 34th Street, where no bus lane currently exists. Existing lanes from 34th to 58th Streets would be upgraded with offset lanes, with double bus lanes installed in some segments.
The project would also widen existing protected bike lanes north of 35th to 59th Streets.
Offset bus lanes take buses out of conflict with drivers who often park in curbside bus lanes, the DOT told amNY. Blocks with partial-length bus stops would maintain current curb regulations.
“The Mamdani administration has made clear that bus riders deserve a fast, dignified commute, but right now it can be as fast to walk along Sixth Avenue as it is to ride a local bus,” DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said. “This proposal would bring faster and safer commutes for bus and bike riders commuting in Manhattan from all five boroughs.”
The proposal would build on several changes to Sixth Avenue in recent years. In 2016, a protected bike lane was installed between 8th and 33rd Streets, followed by another between 35th Street and Central Park in 2020.
A protected bike lane was added on Church Street and Sixth Avenue between Barclay and Lispenard Streets in 2022, and in 2024, it was widened between Lispenard and 13th Streets.
In March 2025, the DOT proposed upgrading the protected bike lane along Sixth Avenue from 14th to 35th Streets, including removing one lane of traffic to make room for a 10-foot-wide cycling lane. Accelerated by the World Cup’s arrival in the region, the project advanced this past May.
The project joins several other street infrastructure upgrades initiated under the Mamdani administration. Earlier this month, the DOT proposed a two-way protected bike lane along Adams Street and Boerum Place, extending existing protections that currently end at Adams and Johnson Streets and creating a continuous connection to the Brooklyn Bridge.
In April, the DOT began the long-delayed redesign of Madison Avenue with dedicated bus lanes from 23rd to 42nd Streets, a project poised to improve the commutes of about 92,000 daily riders who currently contend with bus speeds as low as 4.5 miles per hour.
“Every day, 51,000 New Yorkers rely on buses along this corridor to get to work, school, and home to their families. And every day, too many of them are stuck in traffic that slows them down and takes their valuable time,” Mamdani said.
“By installing new and upgraded offset bus lanes and expanding bike infrastructure on Sixth Avenue, we’re helping New Yorkers move faster, move safer and experience the reliable public transit they deserve,” he added.
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