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Brooklyn’s Linden Boulevard has a reputation, and it’s not a great one. The wide, traffic-heavy street that cuts through East New York has long felt closer to a highway than a neighborhood street. Now, the city says a major redesign is on the way, with new pedestrian islands, bus lanes and safety upgrades aimed at making it a lot less intimidating to cross.
Announced this week, the plan focuses on a stretch between Fountain Avenue and Conduit Avenue, where crashes are frequent and crossing the street can mean navigating up to 10 lanes of traffic. On average, one person is injured here every four days.
The overhaul will start rolling out later this year, with construction wrapping up in 2027. When it’s done, the corridor will look noticeably different: eight new bus boarding islands (which double as pedestrian refuge islands), expanded medians and additional crossings that will shorten the distance people have to walk across traffic.
In addition to a safety fix, city officials are framing the project as a transit upgrade as well. Around 60,000 riders use buses along this stretch daily, often stuck in the same congestion as everyone else. Dedicated bus lanes will change that, improving travel times and connecting riders more efficiently to subway lines and destinations like JFK Airport and Brookdale Hospital.
“This project will deliver faster, more reliable buses for the 60,000 New Yorkers who rely on them every day,” said Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani in a statement. “And redesigning this historically dangerous corridor will make it safer for everyone who has to cross it.”
The city also plans to add two new signalized intersections to close long gaps between crosswalks and rework or eliminate five slip lanes—fast-turning corners that tend to prioritize cars over pedestrians.
For residents, the upgrades address a long-standing imbalance. More than half of households along the corridor don’t have access to a private vehicle and over half of commuters rely on public transit. Yet the street itself has historically been built around moving cars quickly through the area.
“Linden Boulevard has long failed Brooklynites,” said Riders Alliance policy director Danny Pearlstein, calling the redesign a way to “make the street work better for 60,000 daily bus riders” while improving safety and reconnecting neighborhoods.
Soon, Linden Boulevard might finally start behaving like a city street—not a shortcut for traffic.