When the Bx8 replaces Bx14 bus service in Country Club and Spencer Estate on Sunday, June 27, many long-time stops will be gone and some new ones will be added. Some residents are concerned about the ramifications of the changes.
Perhaps most disheartening is that MTA has yet to offically release the extact locations of all the bus stops on the rerouted Bx8, which will now enter Country Club via Country Club Road, head north on Kennelworth Avenue, to Ampere Avenue and down Research Avenue to Stadium Avenue and on into Throggs Neck.
Despite the lack of a final plan as of press time, residents have seen notices posted on current bus stops along the Bx14 stating that beginning on June 27, buseswill no longer stop at the locations. At the same time, new stops on the re-routed Bx8 are appearing on Kennelworth Avenue, and on Ampere Avenue between Ohm and Stadium avenues, and near Ampere and Research avenues.
Councilman Jimmy Vacca said that the community won two major concessions from the MTA. The first was having Bx8 bus service come into Country Club and Spencer Estate from the opposite side of the Bruckner Expressway. The second was having the Bx8 bus run from Country Club and Spencer Estate to Pelham Bay station where there is handicapped access to trains and easy tranfers to buses headed to Pelham Parkway, Co-op City, Bay Plaza, Westchester, and Queens.
“I am not a happy camper when it comes to the Bx14 being eliminated,” Vacca said. “The drawback is that there are going to be new bus stops and new routes. Some people are going to be happy because the bus no longer comes down their street. Some people are going to be unhappy because a bus now comes down their block.”
Vacca said that he anticipates that the first few weeks of the change will be difficult and there will likely be some confusion on the part of strapphangers.
