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Read the press release here.

Community Board Approves New 'Slow Zone' For Elmhurst

ELMHURST — The streets of Elmhurst will become a little safer, officials said on Tuesday, after a new plan to reduce speeds in the neighborhood was approved by the local community board.

Queens Community Board 4 voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a new "slow zone" in Elmhurst, which will lower the speed limit from 30 mph to 20 mph in what the city says is an effort to make streets safer and improve the quality of life in the neighborhood.

Right now, Elmhurst averages 44.6 traffic injuries per year, and its streets are more dangerous per-mile than 74 percent of other Queens neighborhoods, according to the Department of Transportation.

The new zone, which is part of a program launched in July to add 13 such slow zones across the city, hopes to combat that. Similar zones have been approved nearby in Jackson Heights and in Corona, as well as in neighborhoods like Boerum Hill, Inwood and Mount Eden.