Court Street's Redesign: What the Data Actually Shows

Nic Miller

Marketing - Strategy - Product

October 28, 2025

Court Street, the popular traffic artery that connects Atlantic Ave. to Hamilton Ave., has changed. And not figuratively - the roadway has physically been reworked. The new design reduces vehicular traffic to one lane, introduces a dedicated corridor for bicyclists, and adds infrastructure designed to improve pedestrian safety.

Some neighbors say the change to Court Street is killing businesses. Others claim it's turned the popular throughway into a parking nightmare. And plenty of people insist traffic has never been worse.

Time will tell how Court Street specifically performs, but we can look to other streets in our city to forecast what happens next.

Why Court Street Changed

Court Street wasn't redesigned on a whim. It was formally designated as a Vision Zero Priority Corridor, meaning it has a statistically high rate of people being injured or killed in traffic.[1]

Facts that matter:

• Thousands of pedestrians walk the Court Street corridor daily
• There's high southbound bike demand, but prior to the redesign, no dedicated bike lane
• 57% of pedestrian injuries happened while crossing with the signal - meaning the street design itself was failing people who followed the rules[1]

Ironically, the very issues opponents blame on the new design are not that different from the problems Court Street already had:

• Vehicles double-parked in active traffic lanes
• Vehicles moving at speeds above the posted limit (25 MPH)
• Vehicles weaving through traffic unpredictably
• Unsafe travel for motorists and bicyclists caused by a shared roadway
• Difficulty for emergency vehicle passage due to double-parked vehicles or motorists not yielding

The way New Yorkers move has evolved. We now rely on more modes of transportation than ever before. Walking, biking, and transit trips have surged even as car ownership has grown. In 2024 alone, DOT recorded a record 620,000 daily cycling trips citywide - alongside 224,000 additional registered vehicles since 2012.[2] [3] [4]

Court Street can't function safely when it tries to be a highway for cars while also serving thousands of daily pedestrians and cyclists. The redesign matches the street to the transportation mix we actually use.

What the Change to Court Street Introduces

The Court Street redesign created:

• One calmer, predictable traffic lane
• A protected bike lane along the west curb
• Pedestrian islands that shorten crossing distances
• Daylighting and curb extensions to improve sightlines
• Dedicated loading zones to minimize double-parking

The purpose of these changes is simple: recognize the modes of transportation used along the Court Street corridor and give them safer, dedicated space.

This isn't about restricting anyone - it's about creating order. When each mode has its own space, everyone moves more predictably and safely.

What We Can Predict: Data From Elsewhere in NYC

We don't have Court Street-specific results yet, but identical projects across the city have produced consistent, measurable gains:

Protected bike lane corridors:

• 17% reduction in crashes with injuries
• 22% reduction in pedestrian injuries
• 33% reduction in cyclist injuries overall[5]

9th Avenue's redesign (same treatment types):

• ~50% reduction in total injuries
• 49% increase in retail sales along the corridor (vs. 3% increase Manhattan-wide)[6] [7]

Turn-calming at intersections:

• 60% reduction in senior KSI (killed or seriously injured)
• 18% reduction in pedestrian injuries overall[8]

Pedestrian refuge islands and daylighting:

• 46% reduction in pedestrian crashes at marked crosswalks[9]

These aren't design experiments anymore. These are evidence-based safety upgrades that actually work.

Why It Feels Wrong

Change feels threatening before it feels normal. Psychologists call this loss aversion: we overweight what we think we're losing over what we stand to gain.

So when:

• A parking spot disappears
• A travel lane goes from two to one
• Cones and bollards pop up overnight

It feels like decline, even if the data shows progress is underway.

My Thoughts as a Fellow Motorist

I don't have just one way of getting around. I regularly walk Court Street. I use its Citi Bike stations religiously. I also own a car.

I understand the concerns of motorists:

• Parking feels scarcer
• Adjusting to new patterns feels annoying
• Everyone thinks their trip has gotten slower

But looking at the full picture, calmer traffic and clearer rules help drivers too:

• Fewer sudden merges and brake-checks
• Far less conflict at intersections
• Less stress behind the wheel

This redesign isn't anti-car. It's pro-people. That includes the people behind the wheel.

Driving shouldn't feel like a contact sport. Yet that's exactly what Court Street used to demand.

Learning from Bedford Avenue

While safety redesigns are overwhelmingly positive, execution matters.

On Bedford Avenue, the installation of a protected lane in 2024 successfully lowered injuries - but one short school-front segment had conflicts between students boarding buses and passing e-bikes. A toddler was hit - and parents' concerns were real and urgent.[11] [12]

But the response was misguided: the city removed protection on those blocks, despite DOT testimony warning the removal would reduce safety overall.[11]

That was a decision driven by fear in the moment, not data over time.

The lesson for Court Street: fix specific problems - don't discard proven protections.

Safer school boarding islands, traffic-calmed school zones, and stronger enforcement would have preserved safety gains without reverting to old dangers.

Let's not make the Bedford mistake on Court Street.

We Are All Responsible

Cars carry vastly more kinetic energy and remain the primary source of severe harm in traffic crashes - they're responsible for the vast majority of serious injuries and deaths in NYC.[8] [13] [14]

But everyone has responsibility:

• Drivers must slow down and respect bike lanes
• Cyclists must yield at crossings, avoid sidewalks, and not run red lights - and e-bike riders especially must be mindful of their speed
• Pedestrians must stay attentive within the new visibility zones

Infrastructure can't work unless we do our part as citizens. Our streets, neighborhoods, and cities are shared space. We are all responsible.

The Road Ahead

Court Street's redesign is a big move, but it's not a random bet. It's a transformation based on years of evidence across cities like ours. The change is new, opinions are heated, and we all need time to adjust - the payoff of the redesign won't arrive overnight.

But if we allow this project to work, here's what we can look forward to:

• Safer crossings for everyone
• Better business from foot traffic
• Less noise and aggression
• A roadway that feels more like a neighborhood street than a hostile highway

We don't need to blindly trust that the government is doing the right thing on Court Street - we have all the evidence we need to know that projects like this work for streets like ours.

Let's not judge the Court Street redesign by its awkward adolescence. Instead, let's put this evolved infrastructure to good use, knowing that whether we're behind the wheel, in the saddle, or on foot, we're altogether safer.

---

Sources and Citations:

1 - NYC DOT Vision Zero Priority Corridor designation and Court St. crash context (Anne-Marie Doherty deck, July 15, 2020).

2 - Bicycle ridership all-time high: 28,108 avg. daily East River bridge trips in 2024 (+8.4% YoY; ~17x 1980). NYC DOT press release, Dec 9, 2024.

3 - Daily cycling trips ~620k citywide (record ridership). NYC DOT 2024 year-in-review press release.

4 - Car ownership up: NYC registrations +~224k (2012-2021); Brooklyn +66k. Komanoff analysis of DMV/Census data (Streetsblog), Apr 19, 2023.

5 - Protected bike lanes (Manhattan avenues): -17% crashes with injuries; -22% pedestrian injuries; -33% cyclist injuries. NYC DOT press release, Jan 2018.

6 - Retail +49% on 9th Ave; injuries down: NYC DOT "Measuring the Street" (2012) summarized by Retail Dive/CBS/PeopleForBikes.

7 - Additional 9th Ave documentation (Landscape Performance Series fast fact).

8 - Turn Calming (citywide): -18% pedestrian injuries; -60% senior KSI at treated intersections. NYC DOT Turn Calming program page.

9 - Pedestrian refuge islands/medians: -46% pedestrian crashes at marked crosswalks. FHWA Proven Safety Countermeasures guidance.

10 - Vision Zero progress: fatalities down 32% in 1H 2025 vs. 2024. NYC DOT press release, July 2, 2025.

11 - Bedford Avenue: DOT testimony that removing protection would "reduce overall safety"; preliminary injury reductions post-installation. Streetsblog, June 30, 2025.

12 - Bedford incidents and removal actions documented by local outlets (CBS/NY1), June-July 2025.

13 - National modal risk: light trucks/SUVs now majority in pedestrian deaths where type known (54% in 2023). GHSA 2024 preliminary report.

14 - Vehicle design and pedestrian fatality risk (weight/height effects; SUVs rising). NHTSA Countermeasures "Understanding the Problem".