You Told Us is a regular feature highlighting comments from people in the communities DNAinfo covers.
WOODSIDE — The recent redesign of Queens Boulevard, including the addition of protected bike lanes between Roosevelt Avenue and 53rd Street, has sparked debate among locals, and DNAinfo's stories about the changes have spurred an equal amount of online debate.
► Several readers spoke up this week in response to critics who've blamed the redesign for worsening congestion, saying the complaints are misguided since the bike lanes — installed on the left side of the service lanes — did not detract space from any actual traffic lanes.
"How can the conversion of previously unused buffer space into a bike lane cause extra congestion?" Neighborhood Square user brian-howald wrote.
► Another reader agreed.
"If the design changes have increased 'congestion' relative to what was there before, it's no doubt due to the way drivers used the service roads to circumvent backed-up traffic in the main lanes. Drivers are less able to drive like they're on a freeway with multiple on- and off-ramps, which seems appropriate for a street like this one, a major arterial road through residential and commercial districts," simonphearson penned.
► But one commenter said the bike lanes have made it difficult for cars on the service lanes to pass one another, and worried about the impact it would have on emergency vehicles that have to use the lane.
"Since the addition of bike lanes, I have seen motorists on the service road with nowhere to go as an ambulance was trying to make it's way down the service road. It is my understanding that the bike lanes were designed to be wide enough to accommodate a car and I presume an ambulance; however, if an ambulance is trapped in traffic, time is lost because it has to wait for cars to clear to even get into the bike lane," citizensane wrote on Neighborhood Square.
► Other critics were skeptical about whether the bike paths would be heavily used.
"As a bike commuter who has been cycling to downtown Manhattan since 2005, I know these bike lanes are nonsense," user elihu23 said. "Exceedingly few cyclists from Woodside are going to Manhattan, and certainly not via the Queensborough Bridge."
► But some defended the redesign, saying it is essential to saving lives.
"It was called 'Boulevard of Death' for a reason, and these changes are a major step forward in trying to make it safer and healthier. Why not interview the loved ones of those killed here? Or wait for the death and injury counts?" hamtech87 said on Neighborhood Square.
