City To Move Ahead With Last Phase Of Queens Boulevard Redesign

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — The city is moving forward with its last stretch of Queens Boulevard safety improvements but hasn't said when construction will start.

The Department of Transportation will move ahead with a controversial plan to redesign a portion of Queens Boulevard from Yellowstone Boulevard to Union Turnpike in Forest Hills, according to the Forest Hills Post.

The street safety project stalled after the local community board voted down the plan last June in a toothless but symbolic show of opposition against the plan to replace more than 200 parking spots with bike lanes.

"We are moving forward with the redesign and working with the community, but have no updated timeline to share at this time," a City Hall spokesperson said in a statement.

But Queens Community Board 6 members, City Council Member Karen Koslowitz and advocacy group Transportation Alternatives have not heard anything from the transportation agency about the project, the Forest Hills Post reported.

The DOT and City Hall did not respond to Patch's questions about when the city decided to move ahead with the project and the causes for the delay.

"Every moment this design is not implemented increases the chances that someone will be seriously hurt or sadly killed on this stretch of Queens Blvd," Peter Beadle, a transit advocate and Community Board 6 member, told Patch, adding that he wasn't speaking on behalf of the board. "I sincerely hope no one is playing political games with this project and putting people at risk because of it."

The Forest Hills redesign is the last step in the DOT's four-phase effort to make the notorious "Boulevard of Death" safer. The agency plans to add crosswalks, slip lanes and other safety measures along the 1.2-mile stretch of Queens Blvd. from Yellowstone Blvd. to Union Turnpike in Forest Hills.

The plan's most controversial aspect is the elimination of 220 parking spaces to create protected bike paths. In Rego Park, where the DOT already finished its Queens Boulevard redesign, business owners said the loss of parking spots has cost them customers. Forest Hills residents have argued the change will hurt seniors and people with disabilities.

On March 31, Transportation Alternatives will kick off a campaign pushing the city to finish the Queens Boulevard project.