July 31, 2014 By Christian Murray
Woodside: The Department of Transportation is expected to start construction on its redesign of the half-mile stretch on Broadway—between Northern Boulevard and 65th Street—in the next two weeks.
The DOT will be converting the corridor into one lane in each direction with a center turning lane and extra-wide parking lanes (see below for details).
The roadway currently has two lanes in each direction, which the DOT claims is too much space for existing traffic volumes—even during rush hours. The DOT said that it conducted a study that found that 27% of vehicles go over the speed limit through the Broadway corridor.
The work, which will start early August, is expected to take 3 to 4 weeks—depending on the weather, according to the DOT.
The DOT said that Broadway is a high-crash corridor, ranking in the top 10% in Queens.
Since 2008, there have been two fatalities along that stretch—-including the Sept. 28 hit-and-run death of Luis Bravo, 19, at the intersection of 58th Street and Broadway. His death led to renewed pressure from local politicians who called for its redesign.
“It is good to see DOT continue to make good on its pledge to get serious about improving street safety in Queens,” said State Sen. Michael Gianaris.
“For years it seemed our pleas for safer streets would fall on deaf ears, but Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero has brought results to the streets of western Queens,” Gianaris added.
In 2012, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer called on the DOT to study the strip in pursuit of traffic calming measures. At the time the DOT said no changes were needed.
From 2008 through 2012 there have been 10 severe injuries along the corridor.
2014 04 Broadway 65th Northern Qns Cb2
