Nov. 14, 2014 By Christian Murray
The Department of Transportation plans to reduce the speed limit on Queens Blvd to 25 mph, down from 30 mph, by the end of the year.
The DOT tweeted that Commissioner Polly “Trottenberg anticipates reducing the speed limit to 25 mph by he end of the year.”
Queens Boulevard was not included as part of the 25 mph city wide speed limit that went into effect Nov. 7 since it was deemed a big street designed to accommodate faster speeds.
“Queens Boulevard has been known as the Boulevard of Death for far too long, and our work towards Vision Zero would not be complete without addressing this street that has too often proven fatal,” said State Sen. Mike Gianaris in a statement.
“ I am glad DOT plans to make Queens Boulevard safer and I hope that with time this major street will come to be known for its pedestrian plazas and great restaurants, rather than traffic fatalities.”
Commissioner Trottenberg announces DOT anticipates reducing Queens Blvd speed limit to #25MPH the end of the year.
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) November 14, 2014
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13 Comments
I don’t think the 20mph slow zones or 25mph limit are a problem for the residential side streets. 30mph should be okay on the larger roads like Queens or Northern Blvds if enforced. The problem with strict enforcement on Queens Blvd will be the overflow onto secondary roads. Right now 43rd Ave is full of taxis and livery cars at rush hour avoiding QB. Most driving over 30mph. Unless there is a comprehensive enforcement effort, it is all a waste of time and money.
25 ? 30 is sufficient. the issue is no one drives 30 and pedestrians crossing from the 7 line walk on the street then jump back. Drive 25 and I am sure everyone will honk at you
Why anyone in Sunnyside would oppose calming Queens Boulevard is beyond comprehension. Just imagine Sunnyside if Queens Blvd had wider sidewalks, a dedicated bus lane, bike lanes, maybe even some more trees and greenery. Businesses would benefit from the increase in pedestrian traffic, lives would be saved, and Sunnyside would be a more pleasant neighborhood. Why would we ever allow commuters to speed through our neighborhood???
This is a great move. Next they need to redesign the whole thing so that it is no longer being used as a highway. We need bus lanes and bike lanes and more pedestrian space. The whole design is backwards. This will save lives. A little bit of inconvenience to a driver is well worth the price of the lives it will save – or do you really think there is an acceptable level of death so you can get to work 3 minutes faster? This is not a highway. It is a local street with schools, churches, synagogues, parks, playgrounds, grocery stores, and tens of thousands of residents all along its length. Thank you DOT!
This is ridiculous, I hate this law, of 25mph. It is frustrating drive 25 mph only to have the idiots who don’t obey 25 or 35, speed past you. The city has a bunch of “i@@@ts” running the place. I have been driving since I was 16 and have followed the law, what do I get? I get a new law that reduces my speed. Marijuana smokers now get to carry 25 grams of it!! Did we see how much that was? holy shit! It was almost a full zip lock bag. Oh, wait now we also signed a law that won’t let NYPD work with Immigration? Shit it seems, our politicians are working for the people who don’t vote. So sad! What our society has become.
i wish i was driving here since 16, but thanks to the lousy NYC public school system, i was never given that chance. NYC public schools dont teach teens how to drive like other much better cities…they dont teach much either on anything else, but that’s another matter.
I’d rather see a headline that says “Cops to Begin enforcing Local Speed Limits.” and it should be part of a greater effort to slow traffic down. Too many drivers come over the (free) bridge and take the two boulevards through Queens as a shortcut. They’re in a hurry to get on the expressway and will race through our neighborhoods unchecked, unless they’re stopped and given speeding tickets.
I agree – the law is meaningless without enforcement. Very disappointing.
Correction: 30 mph
#0 mph is perfectly reasonable speed for Queens blvd. No need to reduce the limit, just enforce the present one. This is just another scheme to raise revenue.
can you imagine the pack of from da ‘hood thuggz on rice burners doing 25? Cops dont have the guts to enforce this law.
keep right pass left
Isn’t Queens Blvd considered “NEW YORK CITY” since the speed limit is 25 everywhere else, what difference does this make? I tell you the difference it makes, where there should be NO pedestrians on inner lanes (express lanes) of queens blvds they intend to make it 25mph so they can get more revenue by placing those damn private vans and the contracting the tickets to 3rd party companies and sharing the sweet dollars, that’s all. Going 40mph vs 25mph will not make any difference because nobody should be crossing the queens blvd if the light flashes don’t walk. Make the outer lanes (local road) 25mph, by all means, no problem, but if you want to ticket cars because they are going 35mph or 40mph on a 10 lane road (5 lane each direction with dividers) then you better start ticketing jay walkers and peds who walk across by jumping over the barriers. This is a common occurance on Northern Blvd, Queens Blvd and Astoria Blvd, I won’t even talk about Roosevelt because that’s not a road anymore, it’s a jungle, it’s a zoo, it’s an asylum…