Westchester County continues to move forward on creating a BRT line on Central Avenue and is making concerted efforts to incorporate transit-oriented development at three sites along the route. Naomi Klein, the project manager for the study, gave an update on Westchester’s progress at a NYMTC event last month. (Presentation available here.)
The line will run along a 14.4-mile stretch of Central Avenue, a corridor connecting Yonkers, White Plains, and New York City. (MTR profiled the line back in June). In Westchester, the three areas selected for conceptual transit-oriented development designs are Harding Avenue in White Plains, a former Barnes and Noble site in Greenburgh and the former Yonkers Avenue parking garage in Yonkers.
As the gateway to White Plains, Harding Avenue needs higher density development and increased amenities for pedestrians, Klein said. Conceptual designs include plans to bring in mixed-use residential, office and retail, streetscape improvements to sidewalks and crosswalks, and shared parking. Development at the Barnes and Noble site in Greenburgh would include a physical and visual connection with a Hartsdale Avenue BRT station. Plans for the vacant Yonkers Avenue parking garage include a destination hotel and retail plaza and streetscape improvements including better sidewalks, more trees and seating areas.
Because land use is controlled by the localities in the corridor, Westchester DOT is working with them to make these changes. As part of the study Westchester DOT created model TOD overlay zones that localities could adopt to encourage high-density development. The overlay zones allow apartment buildings, mixed-use facilities and other high-traffic buildings such as banks and hospitals. Prohibited uses would include low-density housing and development and other strip commercial development.
The town of Greenburgh is also drawing up a new Comprehensive Plan that includes zoning that encourages compact development. Greenburgh Commissioner of Community Development Thomas Madden told MTR that, at public hearings, residents of Greenburgh and the surrounding communities were eager to cut down on suburban sprawl, especially along the strip mall-like parts of Central Avenue.
The final report detailing the results of the BRT study will be completed in early 2009. In the interim, efforts to implement transit signal priority are progressing, funded by a $2.5 million grant from the NYSDOT Multi-Modal program. Exclusive bus lanes are also being constructed on the shoulders of Central Avenue for two miles between the Greenburgh/Yonkers line and Sadore Lane in Yonkers.
Although conventionally centered around rail, transit-oriented development has been successful around BRT lines in the United States and around the world. A recent example of this successful integration is Cleveland’s BRT, the Healthline. Over $4.3 billion has been invested in development along the route. The Healthline has served not only as the impetus for transit-oriented development but as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization. With collaboration and smart planning Westchester could see similar success.
Having ridden the Health line, I found that the reserved right of way does allow the bus to save time. Whether it actually encouraged that much development is in the eye of the beholder (much of TOD regardless of mode is open to question). However, running a standing room only operation in mid morning leads me to think that a streetcar line with the same characteristics would have been a better investment and not that much more money (building pavement isn’t cheap). The stations wouldn’t cost any more and the vehicles would probably have more than the 39 seats that are in the Healthline buses. At least the Healthline has true level boarding unlike the Orange line in Los Angeles. It will be interesting to see how maintenance intensive the guidance system is.
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