By Forum Staff
City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today announced the completion of a critical new pedestrian safety upgrade along North and South Conduit Avenue in Queens. The intersection of Conduit and 79th Street—the site of two pedestrian fatalities since 2018—now features new sidewalks and a traffic signal to create a new, safe pedestrian crossing between North and South Conduit, where residents frequently crossed to access a nearby shopping plaza.
Developed through the agency’s Pedestrian Mobility Plan, this NYC DOT project installed a new concrete pedestrian walkway and traffic signals on both sides of “the Conduit” at 79th Street. The newly paved walkway enhances safety and accessibility of a popular footpath, formalizing a “desire line” worn into the grass across the wide median between North and South Conduit avenues. At the South Conduit Avenue crosswalk, NYC DOT has also installed a painted curb extension to further shorten the pedestrian crossing. The dirt path illustrated how pedestrians had regularly used the route of the new sidewalk, despite the prior lack of signals and crosswalks. The project builds on the agency’s prior safety efforts along Conduit Avenue, a major arterial street that connects Atlantic Avenue and Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn to the Belt Parkway and John F. Kennedy International Airport. Deemed a Vision Zero Priority Corridor, due to a high number of pedestrian fatalities, NYC DOT instituted several safety improvements along the corridor in recent years, including a reduced speed limit, new speed cameras, and several new pedestrian head-start signals at major crossings.
According to Rodriguez, recognizing that the Vision Zero corridor has long served as a barrier to pedestrians trying to travel to and from Ozone Park and Lindenwood communities, NYC DOT and sister agencies applied for federal funding through the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grant program to make comprehensive infrastructure upgrades along the corridor. This funding would allow the city to explore ways to reconnect the street grid and prioritize creating open space for recreation, active transportation, and stormwater management. This important work ultimately aims to increase community mobility and promote access to jobs, education, and economic development.
“I have been advocating for these traffic safety measures for years, going back to when I was a member of Community Board 10 and president of the [Howard Beach Lindenwood] Civic that represents that area,” City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) said. “With these traffic safety measures in place, we can hopefully avoid any more preventable tragedies like the ones that have already devastated this neighborhood in the past.”
Rodriguez added, “Every New Yorker deserves to be able to cross the streets outside their homes safely—and this project helps Ozone Park residents do just that. The new sidewalks and signals will help save the lives of those who are already crossing the Conduit at this location. We thank the area’s elected officials and community partners for their support of this important safety enhancement, especially the Ozone Park Residents Block Association, the Howard Beach Lindenwood Civic Association, the Ozone Tudor Civic, the Linden Center Shopping Mall, and Our World Neighborhood Charter School.”
