Heading into Wednesday night’s meeting regarding two contentious street changes in Woodhaven, the city Department of Transportation recently stopped short of guaranteeing that the street changes would not go through after meeting public opposition.
The issue stems around two proposed street changes—one which would convert 89th Avenue from a two operation to a one-way eastbound operation between Woodhaven Boulevard and 97th Street, and another changing 84th Street from a one-way northbound to a one-way southbound from Liberty Avenue.
Residents in opposition to the street changes have argued that the changes would create a traffic overload around the area that would result in longer commutes home and make it harder for people to shop locally.
Recently, Community Board 9 opted to table any further discussion of the matter pending a public hearing on the street changes Wednesday at St. Elizabeth’s Church at 94-20 85th Street in Ozone Park.
Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association (WRBA), said before the meeting that in order to mobilize a strong turnout for the Feb. 1 meeting, WRBA members have begun circulating fliers around the area, urging people to attend the meeting.
“We might be opposed to it, but even for people who are agreeing to the change, we want to make sure that all sides are there and have a chance to speak on it,” Wendell said.
According to Scott Gastel, a spokesperson representing the DOT, the changes to the two streets came about from earlier discussions with Community Board 9 and local businesses within the area.
For the proposed 84th Street southbound conversion, a business made the request immediately after its first conversion to northbound in 2008. There have been two Community Board transportation committee meetings on this topic, as well as one full board meeting, Gastel pointed out.
The request to convert 89th Avenue to one way westbound between 97th Street and Woodhaven Boulevard in Queens from a two way operation goes back to a request from Community Board 9 in September 2008. The narrow roadway width, coupled with parking on both sides, resulted in the recommendation for a one-way conversion. The westbound direction was recommended to foster the safe curbside drop-off of students.
However, a statement from DOT did not offer any specific guarantees on whether they would be reconsidering the proposed street changes.
“We always seek the community’s input through the Community Board hearings,” the statement read. “The feedback received on these two proposals has resulted in a separate meeting on just these two traffic issues to allow a full discussion and exchange prior to moving forward with any implementation.”
On whether the recent opposition to the proposal would make any impact in stopping the street changes, Wendell remained optimistic that with enough voices in opposition, there might be a change in plans.
“It would be easy to ignore just one voice, but with a couple of people and groups, it’s a lot harder for them to ignore it,” Wendell said.
At the most recent meeting of the WRBA, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley spoke on the subject, telling residents that she is opposed to the changes, specifically on 89th Street, and would continue to monitor talks on the subject with DOT as things progress.
By Jean-Paul Salamanca
jp.salamanca@theforumnewsgroup.com
