The city is preparing to begin traffic safety work on Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards this fall.
File Photo
Changes are coming to Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards as the city prepares to put shovels to pavement this coming fall.
The street improvement project will go into full effect next month as part of the city Transportation Department’s ongoing efforts to ease congestion along the busy commercial corridors running across southern Queens. Plans included upgrades to service road safety and revamped bus lanes throughout the region, which the city said should make for better driving conditions.
“Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards are wide roadways that carry heavy volumes of traffic along with over 30,000 bus riders per day,” the city DOT said in regards to the street improvement project starting this fall. “High speeds and traffic volumes create safety issues that affect all users.”
Plans have been in the works for years with help from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as the agency explored various options, including Select Bus Service. The city first started the conversation back in 2008 with the Woodhaven Boulevard Congested Corridors study with hopes of finding both short and long-term ways to address congestion and air pollution.
Initial improvements along the busy roadways started in 2011 and the pending upgrades this fall were the next chapter for the project, the DOT said.
The DOT project said service roads between Park Lane South and Rockaway Boulevard will be striped with paint, therefore limiting the chance for sideswipes and also giving pedestrians refuges at key crosswalks. The plan also moved to install offset bus lanes between Eliot Avenue and Metropolitan Avenue to reduce the amount of congestion by getting rid of the need for traffic to merge at the overpass south of Metropolitan, the city DOT said.
Curbside bus lanes were also drawn out for 101st Avenue and Plotwood Avenue, which the city said would allow buses to reach subway connections faster without having to get rid of travel lanes.
The dedicated lane for buses and right turns from Metropolitan to Eliot avenues along Woodhaven Boulevard would be in effect from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, the city said. Curbside bus lanes approaching Liberty Avenue and Rockaway Boulevard would also be in effect from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Parking would still be allowed in the curbside lanes when they are not in effect, according to the city.
Outreach for the project began back in the spring of 2013 and drew mixed reviews from the greater southern Queens community. Some Woodhaven residents said they were worried about how Select Bus Service might impact those who drive along Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards on a daily basis. Others argued that the city should instead focus on reactivating the abandoned Rockaway Beach Rail Line instead to ease congestion along the roadways, which the city included in its report of the latest outreach meeting back in June.
“The DOT and MTA do not have a position against or in favor of the reactivation of the rail line or other proposed uses of the right-of-way, and do not believe that Select Bus Service would preclude any project on the rail right-of way,” the DOT said in a statement. “This project is focused on improving Woodhaven Boulevard for more than 30,000 riders that currently travel along the corridor by bus, as well as for all residents and travelers that need a street that is safer and easier to navigate.”
By Phil Corso
