NYC breaks ground on Bronx crosstown bus service upgrades around Yankee Stadium
Credit: NYC DOT
New York City has broken ground on a project that will improve crosstown Bronx bus service and enhance street safety near Yankee Stadium, ahead of baseball season’s opening day on Wednesday. Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday announced the project, which will add westbound bus-only lanes, including converting the 161st Street underpass to bus-only use. The redesign will also include pedestrian safety upgrades and new amenities for bus riders, such as shelters, benches, and leaning bars, along with infrastructure to make boarding buses safer and more accessible.
The area surrounding Yankee Stadium sees more than three million visitors annually, with the corridor serving 25,000 daily riders on the Bx6 Select Bus Service. The project will reconstruct East 161st Street from Ruppert Place to Morris Avenue, along with sections of East 163rd Street between Washington Avenue and Tiffany Street, as well as portions of the Bx6-SBS route in Manhattan.
As part of the initiative, the city will create a fully protected, center-running bus lane along East 161st Street from Concourse Village West to just west of River Avenue, one of the few corridors of its kind in the five boroughs. Construction has already begun to transform East 163rd Street between Intervale Avenue and Tiffany Street.
The existing eastbound bus tunnel under Grand Concourse, currently restricted to eastbound buses, will become bus-only in both directions. To complement this change, three blocks of westbound 161st Street on either side of the tunnel will also be converted to bus-only, easing congestion at known bottlenecks.
Additionally, the city will install full-length concrete boarding islands along center-running bus lanes to enhance safety, shorten pedestrian crossing distances, and prevent vehicles from blocking bus lanes. Other improvements include sidewalk extensions, known as bus bulbs, at stops along the Bx6 route to streamline boarding and create space for seating and bus shelters.
New curb extensions, medians, and pedestrian refuge islands will shorten crossing distances and improve visibility. Existing painted safety features will be upgraded to concrete, extending sidewalks to new curblines.
Pedestrian refuge islands have been shown to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 35.5 percent, while curb and sidewalk extensions reduce them by 34.1 percent, according to a press release. The city will also rebuild and expand landscape medians at East 161st Street and River Avenue, just outside Yankee Stadium.
In a statement, Mamdani, a self-described Mets fan, said that despite his allegiance, he has a responsibility to ensure fast bus service for Yankees fans as well.
“Unfortunately, as the mayor of NYC, I must deliver fast and reliable buses for Yankees fans as well,” Mamdani said. “I can think of no better way to welcome the start of baseball season than by breaking ground on a project that will make commutes faster, streets safer and daily life a little easier for tens of thousands of New Yorkers every day.”
In all, the project includes 370 ADA-compliant pedestrian ramps, 57 new trees, and roughly 8,000 grass and perennial plantings. More than 100 new streetlight and traffic signal poles will also be installed, and 16 fire hydrants will be upgraded.
Crews will redesign approximately 45,000 square yards of roadway and upgrade or add more than 180,000 square feet of sidewalk. Beneath the ground, more than 4,500 feet of water mains and sewers will be upgraded, and additional catch basins will be added to improve drainage.
The project was shaped by extensive community engagement and has support from local community boards. To complement the plan, city agencies have developed a traffic mitigation strategy to minimize disruptions during Yankee games. Construction is expected to continue through 2028.
“Get ready for a strike down the middle! Better bus service and safer streets go hand in hand, and this project delivers both,” City Council Majority Leader Shaun Abreu said. “This is an important step from the City to deliver on its promise of fast, reliable buses. I’m excited to see this investment in protected, center-running bus lanes and look forward to working with the mayor to bring more projects like this to neighborhoods across the city.”
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