Approaching the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge in Queens Plaza (Google Maps)
Jan. 27, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
The city is working to install upgraded signage in Queens Plaza and at the Manhattan-bound approaches to the Queensboro Bridge to help drivers better navigate the notoriously complicated area.
The Department of Transportation said it is taking steps to install additional navigation signs in the blocks surrounding Queens Plaza, and is moving existing signs to elevated columns and structures for greater visibility.
“We will be surveying the area within the next two weeks in preparation for the manufacturing and installation of signs,” a DOT spokesperson said.
The DOT said the project builds on past signage improvements at Queens Plaza, Northern Boulevard, Jackson Avenue, and Queens Boulevard implemented in 2015 at the request of the Long Island City Partnership.
But the LICP says the problems described three years ago still plague Queens Plaza in a second letter sent to the DOT just last week.
“We are deeply concerned that this complicated intersection has continued to be the site of vehicle-pedestrian, vehicle-cyclist, and vehicle-vehicle interactions,” wrote Elizabeth Lusskin, LICP president, to the DOT on Jan. 18.
“We hear regularly from local businesses and community stakeholders that their visitors have difficulty navigating this part of Long Island City,” she added.
The LICP president also questioned the agency on the signage proposed by the Department of City Planning in 2015 for the intersections, which fell in the hands of both the DOT and MTA for installation.
Department of City Planning sign renderings, proposed in 2015.
“It is our understanding that the NYC Department of Transportation was going to work with the Metropolitan Transit Authority to resolve any potential technical issues that would result from the size, weight, or location of the additional signage so that the signs could be installed,” Lusskin wrote.
The signage currently at the intersection sharply contrasts the renderings put forth by the DCP, and it is unclear if the DOT’s new signs will follow the 2015 suggestions.
4 Comments
Makes one wonder if the “temporary” detour for Manhattan-bound Q32 and Q60 buses at intersection with Northern Boulevard will ever be ended. It was created about ten years ago to permit construction work which is now long completed. The “temporary” detour can add fifteen minutes or more to a bus trip into Manhattan at busy times of day.
Typical Maron fix the fix then fix the mistakes it was fine years ago when you could make a quick decision to take the side road to the upper level, now you are stuck… All because we cant make bike rides suffer any delays in their travels from northern to the bridge
Finally Congestion Pricing Coming Soon !! Times Up Fatty Get Out The Car And Bike !!!
Why improve signage when they can have cops stand around and do whatever lights say, and then issue tickets to people who block the box?
The whole area is ugly dark eyesore.