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Activists Want Your Suggestions on Most Dangerous Streets in Eastern Queens

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | September 2, 2015 8:11am
 The intersection of Hillside Avenue and Parsons Boulevard is among the most crash-prone corners in Queens
The intersection of Hillside Avenue and Parsons Boulevard is among the most crash-prone corners in Queens
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DNAinfo.com/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

QUEENS — From Hillside Avenue to Woodhaven Boulevard, Eastern Queens has some of the busiest and most dangerous streets in the borough.

The high concentration of crash-prone intersections in the area is the reason why the Transportation Alternatives’ Queens Activist Committee, a group advocating for street safety, wants to now focus on the Eastern portion of the borough. 

The group is planning monthly meetings with local residents hoping to identify the most perilous spots and projects they should work on in the area.

“It’s a continuation of the work we are already doing with our main Queens group, which is working on street safety campaigns, making the streets safer for pedestrians and identifying areas of interest ... that we can work on," said Jaime Moncayo, a member of the T. A.'s Queens Activist Committee.

The group has already successfully pushed for several safety measures in Western Queens, including the new bike lanes on the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge and urging pedestrian and bike safety improvements on Queens Boulevard, which are currently being implemented.

According to the Department of Transportation, which earlier this year unveiled its pedestrian safety plan for Queens under Vision Zero, some corridors in Eastern Queens have seen thousands of accidents in recent years involving motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.

The city is currently working to make some of the most dangerous streets in the borough safer by posting more speed limit signs, implementing new pedestrian islands on some streets and installing traffic lights timed to let pedestrians cross streets separately from cars.

The group is planning to meet on a monthly basis (currently the meetings are taking place at the Jamaica Center for the Arts and Learning at 161-04 Jamaica Ave.) Those interested in participating can contact Jaime Moncayo at jaime.moncayo@transalt.org.