BY DENNIS LYNCH | A new turn restriction on Eighth Ave. has inadvertently funneled large buses onto W. 26th St., according to residents and community leaders who want the Department of Transportation (DOT) to ban buses on the side street.
The city restricted left turns on eastbound traffic on W. 23rd St. at Eighth Ave. to help move along the new M23 Select Bus Service in August. That forces eastbound tour buses — mostly of the double-decker “hop-on, hop-off” variety, according to Community Board 4 (CB4) — to turn north on 10th and east on W. 24th to then legally turn north on Eighth Ave.
Their trip on W. 26th from 10th Ave. to Eighth Ave. takes them by a public elementary school, a city park, a playground, a Hudson Guild children’s center, and a Hudson Guild community center frequented by local seniors.
A crossing guard posted at W. 26th and 10th Ave. said she’s seen buses turn on W. 26th St. “all the time” during her shifts, but can’t do anything about them. There are no crossing guards posted there during the weekend, when the most buses take their eastbound trips on the street. She said it was dangerous and should be stopped.
“It’s not good; it’s not fair for the children. They should go on 24th Street — that is residential but this has a school and the daycare and the community center, a lot of children,” she said, adding that she regularly had to stop large trucks from bypassing restrictions to sneak across town on W. 26th St.
The city restricts truck through-traffic on W. 26th with a sign posted at the corner of 10th Ave. This month, CB4 sent a letter to DOT Acting Borough Commissioner Luis Sanchez asking the agency to amend that sign to include buses, citing safety concerns and numerous community complaints about them.
“Commercial bus traffic on such a busy residential street is putting all these parents, children and seniors in danger,” the letter read.
The board also asked the agency to ensure “the hop-on, hop-off bus companies comply with their approved routes and with the traffic rules that prohibit their use of residential streets.” The board requested the DOT notify the bus companies that W. 26th and W. 28th along with W. 24th St. were inappropriate for bus traffic, and to ultimately restrict them to “commercial streets north of W. 34th St.”
Representatives from Big Bus, which CB4 pointed out in the letter as one of the companies using W. 26th St., said they preemptively planned to abandon the route by March.
“We’re not the bad guy, we will change. We don’t want to make noise and we don’t want people to be upset with us,” Big Bus General Manager Charles Nolen said. “We are here to support the local economy and show tourists New York. We’re certainly not here to put anyone in danger.”
Big Bus uses the street on the way from the High Line to Midtown and reps said they might abandon the High Line trips if they can’t find a good alternative route, Nolen said.
The DOT had not received the letter as of our press deadline, but a spokesperson said the agency “look[s] forward to reviewing it upon receipt,” and that it implemented the turn restriction from W. 23rd St. to Eighth Ave. “to enhance safety and traffic flow as part of the M23 SBS project.”
The city requires that bus drivers “travel along New York City truck routes except when local bus routes or other roads are needed to reach their destinations,” and that if necessary to leave the truck route, they do so “at the nearest intersection to their destination and return at the nearest possible location.”
