Maspeth residents have been fighting for ten years to get trucks routed away from their residential and commercial areas, and they’ll have to keep waiting. Community Board 5 tabled discussion of the bypass after listening to business owners’ concerns at their board meeting last Wednesday.
Department of Transportation (DOT) officials presented their final Maspeth Bypass proposal at the same meeting—another in a many with community groups and the board’s transportation committee.
“It has been a big learning experience for us,” said DOT Queens Borough Commissioner Maura McCarthy about the long process. She told the board that if the plan was approved, the DOT could begin implementing the changes over the summer. Any delays might force the DOT to wait until next spring. (The DOT prefers to make major roadway changes during the summer when there is typically less congestion.)
Although the community has been pining for the DOT to make changes to the truck routes, Wednesday’s board meeting was filled with business owners along the affected areas who protested the plan.
The final proposal is similar to what the DOT presented in March at a public hearing at the Kowalinski Post. Residents had presented the city with a plan a decade ago to divert trucks from the Long Island Expressway to use 58th and Rust Street before turning right on Grand Avenue to reach Brooklyn (or vice versa). This would divert trucks, which would normally travel the length of Grand or Flushing avenues to avoid traffic, away from residential streets and local businesses and into Maspeth’s more industrial area.
Stacy Hodge, the Director of DOT Office of Freight Mobility, explained that to implement the community’s plan, the five-legged intersection where 58th Street, 56th Terrace, Maspeth Avenue, 57th Place and Maurice Avenue meet, would need to be reworked. The various merges, crossings and turns create 54 traffic conflicts, Hodge said.
In order to reduce traffic conflicts, the DOT proposed various one-way conversions:
- Convert Maurice Avenue one-way northbound between Maspeth Avenue and 55th Drive.
- Convert 57th Place one-way northbound between Maspeth Avenue and 57th Road.
- Convert 58th Street one-way southbound between 55th Drive and 56th Terrace and Maspeth Avenue.
- Convert 59th Street one-way southbound from Maurice Avenue to 56th Drive. (Although not part of the five-legged intersection, the DOT said this change would help normalize signal operations in the area and prevent trucks from cutting through residential streets.)
Along with the one-way conversions, many of the roads will be reworked to either allow turning lanes or eliminate left turns. These changes would reduce the amount of traffic conflicts to seven, Hodge said. After community review, the DOT has also proposed changing various residential streets one-way around the area to prevent trucks from using those streets.
This plan was approved by the board’s transportation committee meeting last April, but at last week’s full board meeting, concerned business owners said the changes would destroy their livelihood.
Leading the charge was Nick Diamantis, owner of the Clinton Diner on 57th Place. He gave a passionate speech to the board about how the proposed changes would hurt his business. “I’m dependent on people driving by and stopping,” Diamantis said, and the street changes make it nearly impossible for potential customers to park at the diner without wasting time and fuel circling around various one-way streets.
McCarthy, however, said because the Clinton Diner has access to a parking lot from three different areas, she doesn’t believe business will be hurt. She did acknowledge that some other businesses along 57th Place might feel negative impacts.
“We’re happy to reach out more, but we believe the circular movement won’t hurt the owners,” McCarthy said.
The DOT’s defense wasn’t good enough for the business community. Gene Tanler from the Queens Business Outreach Center thanked the DOT for their outreach but said they must do more.
“I’ve been working closely with the DOT, but the more recent changes have been done quickly. We haven’t had time to do the proper outreach,” Tanler said.
Community activist Tony Nunziato, who has been working on the Maspeth Bypass from the beginning, said the plan had to “go back to the drawing board.”
“I’m not going to lose Clinton Diner and other businesses because of poor design,” Nunziato added.
Local residents also were apprehensive about the plan. Eileen Navarez lives on 57th Drive with a disabled husband, and she fears that the changes would confuse and further delay emergency vehicles.
After listening to the concerns, the board voted to postpone a final vote on the bypass until more outreach and community meetings could be held. It will likely be voted on at the board’s next meeting on Wednesday, June 15.
The DOT has also listened to community’s request for more outreach. There will be a public open house where residents and business owners can answer questions. The open houses will be held from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. (residents only need 15 minutes to listen to the presentation) on Thursday, May 19 and Thursday, May 26. It will be held at Petro, 55-60 58th Street.
by Eric Yun
