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DOT Plans Pedestrian-Friendly Changes for Area South of Queens Plaza

By Jeanmarie Evelly | September 11, 2014 5:27pm
 The DOT's plan include adding pedestrian island on 44th Drive, between Jackson Avenue and Hunter Street.
The DOT's plan include adding pedestrian island on 44th Drive, between Jackson Avenue and Hunter Street.
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DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

LONG ISLAND CITY — The Department of Transportation is planning street and traffic changes for several blocks south of Queens Plaza, which the agency says will help reduce speeding and make the area safer for pedestrians.

The proposal was approved by Community Board 2 last week and impacts the area from 44th Drive to Queens Plaza South between Jackson Avenue and Crescent Street. The changes are expected to go into effect next year, and include adding pedestrian islands in the middle of streets and extending sidewalks in some locations, according to the plan.

Sean Quinn of the DOT's Pedestrian Projects Group told CB2 last week that the proposal was based on requests for improvements from neighborhood stakeholders, including the Long Island City Partnership and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which has offices nearby.

“We believe that all these together help reduce speeding and help traffic through this neighborhood that’s growing,” Quinn told the board.

The plan includes adding a northbound lane of traffic to two one-way streets: Crescent Street between 43rd Avenue and 42nd Road, as well as on Hunter Street between 44th Drive and 43rd Avenue — a change that will help traffic circulation.

"There's a traffic network issue where there's disjointed circulation," Quinn told members of CB2 at their meeting last week. The two-way changes will allow drivers to head north to Queens Plaza South from 43rd Avenue and from 44th Drive.

Outside of the Department of Health building on 28th Street between 42nd Road and Queens Plaza South, markings will be added to make streets seem narrower to drivers in an attempt to discourage speeding, Quinn said. The nearby pedestrian island on 42nd Road and 28th Street will also be made larger, according to the plan.

New concrete pedestrian islands with plantings will also be added — one on 44th Drive at Hunter Street and another on 44th Drive and Jackson Avenue, giving pedestrians a place to wait while they make their way across the road's long crosswalks.

The plan also calls for adding painted sidewalk extensions on Crescent Street between Hunter Street and 43rd Avenue to help calm traffic.