New York Post

STALL ON BUS LANES

Roadblock for Eric

- By DAVID MEYER and KEVIN SHEEHAN dmeyer@nypost.com

Mayor Adams is falling behind on his pledge to the MTA to build more than 20 new miles of bus lanes this year — with one signature project in The Bronx facing opposition from the local city councilman.

Council member Oswald Feliz earlier this month asked the city Department of Transporta­tion to put its street redesign proposals for his Bronx district “on hold for at least 12 months.”

The DOT’s plans to convert segments of Fordham Road to bus and deliveryon­ly “will send thousands of cars onto nearby residentia­l neighborho­ods,” Feliz claimed in a letter dated Sept. 12.

“Small businesses of Fordham Road and Arthur Avenue have also expressed concerns about such plans hurting their already-struggling businesses,” he wrote.

‘Get Stuff Done’

Fordham Road was at the top of a list of 21.9 miles of bus lanes Adams announced for the year in a joint statement with MTA CEO Janno Lieber after a “transit improvemen­t summit” the pair held in June.

“This partnershi­p is the definition of ‘Get Stuff Done,’ ” Hizzoner said at the time. Yet with just three months left in the year, the city has installed just 6.7 miles, a DOT spokesman said Friday.

“We continue to work toward our ambitious goals for new and enhanced bus lanes to provide safer, more sustainabl­e, and more efficient transporta­tion options for New Yorkers,” DOT spokesman Vin Barone said.

Barone said the DOT is “reviewing” Feliz’s letter concerning Fordham Road, where two of the agency’s three proposals would restrict traffic to buses and local deliveries in one or both directions from Morris Avenue to Webster Avenue.

70% support

In meetings with community boards, the DOT has touted a poll by the business group Associatio­n for a Better New York that found 70% support among locals for the “busway” restrictio­ns on private vehicles. The agency also points to surveys that showed 86% of shoppers on the strip arrived by foot or mass transit.

But local businesses aren’t sold on the concept, or the stats. Of 17 merchants along the stretch The Post spoke to Sunday, not one expressed support for DOT’s proposals.

“Our customers come from the tri-state area, they will go somewhere else,” said Sunny Malik, who has owned S.A. Mirage Jewelry on Fordham Road for 22 years.

José Castillo, a Bronx resident who manages a shoe store on the corridor, said “most” of his clientele “park out front.”

Feliz did not return a request for comment.

“Obviously the mayor’s commitment to 150 miles of bus lanes in four years is ambitious and unpreceden­ted,” MTA Chief of External Relations John McCarthy said.

“The MTA will support the city in any way possible to get it done.”

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