Nostrand Avenue Merchants Association

Select Bus Service (B44 Limited) 

Project Update

Dear merchants and community members – 

The Nostrand Avenue Select Bus Service on the B44 limited route, Brooklyn’s very first, launched today, November 17, 2013!  We want to be sure that the community is kept fully aware of important updates, we urge you to share this information with your neighboring merchants, customers and community members in general.

 The B44 has been crowded and slow.  Many of our customers and neighbors ride this bus and will benefit from its improvement.

We know that construction and change in general can be confusing and we want to make sure that you have the best access to information. For additional information about the route, please see the latest newsletter from the NYC Department of Transporation (DOT) and the project page.

The agencies: City Department of Transportation, Department of Design and Construction, and Metropolitan Transit Authority joined NAMA on October 29, 2013 in our neighborhood

and provided us with the information contained below as well as answered questions from a room full of merchants and community members.

Parking/Loading Zone Changes:

In response to NAMA’s advocacy, a series of changes to parking and loading zones will be going into effect shortly. These changes will allow for easier access for deliveries by trucks and vans, and is the product, in part, of the desires expressed by merchants through the survey that NAMA co-sponsored during the Summer of 2011.  The signage for these zones is posted, and went into effect on November 2^nd, 2013.

Trucks will have exclusive curb access to serve merchants on the west side of Nostrand's commercial blocks on weekdays from 10am-12pm and on the east side from 12pm-2pm. More information available here.

A number of changes have already gone into effect along Nostrand and Rogers Avenues to improve conditions both for businesses and commuters. For a review of these changes, please see DOT’s project page. (en kreyòl ayisyen)

Also, in a change unrelated to the bus route, Muni Meters have been installed on Nostrand between Hawthorne and Lefferts Avenue, filling in a parking meter gap.  Customers visiting businesses in this area by car will now have greater opportunity to park because it will not be permissible for anyone to leave a vehicle there all day.

Construction:

Construction is nearly complete along the length of Nostrand Avenue between Eastern Parkway and Linden Boulevard. New machines for the off-board fare collection – where you pay BEFORE getting on the bus – have been installed at Empire Boulevard and Clarkson Avenue.  New bus shelters are partially installed there, with work expected to be completed by December. 

The Select Bus Service throughout the Nostrand Avenue corridor is being constructed in stages. The first stage involved the repaving and painting of dedicated bus lanes, which is complete in our area. Dedicated bus lanes allow bus traffic to run faster, encouraging travelers to take the bus. Further information on bus lanes can be found below.

Nostrand Avenue also has benefited from new crosswalks, which are lane lines painted to increase pedestrian safety. These investments will be combined with newly constructed and configured bus stations.  The stations feature “bus bulbs” that extend the waiting area for passengers and allow buses to board without exiting the bus lane.  These provide for greater consumer comfort when awaiting buses, and will make it easier for passengers to board the bus as well as speed up the boarding time, improving the bus service.

Changes for Drivers

To speed both the local and Select Bus, bus lanes are ONLY FOR BUS TRAFFIC during posted hours, which are normally during peak travel times, weekdays at: 7a.m. to 10a.m. and  to 4p.m. to 7p.m. Vehicles making right turns or dropping people at the curb are allowed briefly to be in the bus lane. Those who drive, park or stand in bus lanes when they are not permitted are subject to fines.  Bus lanes will be enforced primarily by cameras but also by traffic cops and the NYPD.  For more information, see DOT’s brochure on Bus Lanes. (en kreyòl ayisyen)

*If you have ANY questions about the construction process or timeline, please contact Emily Campbell, who is the Community Construction Liaison.  Her phone is (718) 942-5017 and her email is nostrandavenuesbsccl<at>gmail.com

We've come a long way!

In construction

Crosswalk in progress to make it safer for pedestrians

Street re-paving performed at night to minimize disruption.

Bus bulb construction

Before

Community residents cleaning up garbage that collected underneath the scaffolding at the MTA substation – at a clean-up event sponsored by NAMA and PLGNA!  Following our advocacy, scaffolding has been removed.

 Condition before repaving

 Note the ancient parking meters and the double-parked truck

NAMA's Transportation Committee has been working hard since 2010.