Courtesy of NYC DOT
By Michael V. Cusenza
The City Department of Transportation this week announced plans for a street improvement project at North and South Conduit avenues and 79th Street.
In a Monday letter to stakeholders, DOT Queens Borough Commissioner Nicole Garcia noted that “the design is in response to numerous community and elected official requests for a safer pedestrian crossing between the north and south sides of Conduit Avenue across the grassy area.”
In the past five years there have been two pedestrian fatalities on South Conduit Avenue as people cross between the grass median and the Linden Center Shopping Mall, according to Garcia.
“As part of the safety improvements, the agency plans to install a traffic signal on both sides of Conduit Avenue,” the Queens commissioner wrote. “This traffic signal will create a safer and more comfortable connection for pedestrians crossing Conduit Avenue.”
According to DOT, the improvements include the following:
Courtesy of NYC DOT
Install a traffic signal on South Conduit Avenue at the Linden Center Shopping Mall entrance.
Revise the pavement markings for the Linden Center Shopping Mall entrance to align with the proposed traffic signal.
Install a painted curb extension on the west side of the Linden Center Shopping Mall entrance.
Upgrade the existing pedestrian ramps near the Linden Center Shopping Mall entrance for accessibility needs.
Also on Monday, City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) thanked DOT, Community Board 10 and its Chairwoman Betty Braton, the Howard Beach Lindenwood Civic Association, the Ozone Park Block Association, and the Ozone Tudor Civic “for their continued activism on a long-standing problem in the Howard Beach section of District 32. #PromisesMadePromisesKept,” she tweeted.
City DOT officials said the agency aims to install the project this summer.
