DOT To Add Traffic Signals Outside Bayside Elementary School

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Parents anxious for safety improvements outside a Bayside public school are getting some good news: The city will install traffic signals in front of P.S. 376 this fall, officials announced.

The NYC Department of Transportation is adding traffic signals outside the Bayside elementary school at 48th Avenue and 211th Street, City Council Member Paul Vallone announced Tuesday. The agency will install the signals and new, high-visibility crosswalks sometime this fall.

"The safety of our children always comes first, and I thank the DOT for their responsiveness to the concerns of the community," Vallone said.

Parents and officials have long campaigned for safety improvements at that intersection, even before P.S. 376 opened in September 2017. A school petition supporting added safety measures got 200 signatures this past winter, according to Vallone.

Locals say the area is a hotspot for speeding, in part because the avenue has no traffic signals along the five-block stretch between Bell Boulevard and Oceania Street, QNS reported.

"The wellbeing of our students is paramount and every effort must be taken to ensure their safety at all times, but especially near and around schools," Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, who represents northeast Queens, said in a statement.

Shortly after P.S. 376 opened in 2017, Vallone and Principal Clara Kang worked with the DOT to lower the speed limit in that area from 25 to 20 miles per hour during the school day.