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$8M Upgrades Will Make Jamaica Transit Hub Safer and More Accesible: Pol

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | August 30, 2016 4:41pm
 The transit hub in Jamaica is getting nearly $8 million for upgrades that’ll make it safer and more accessible to drivers and pedestrians alike, State Sen. James Sanders announced Tuesday.
The transit hub in Jamaica is getting nearly $8 million for upgrades that’ll make it safer and more accessible to drivers and pedestrians alike, State Sen. James Sanders announced Tuesday.
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DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

QUEENS — A bustling transit hub in Jamaica is getting nearly $8 million for upgrades meant to make it safer and easier to navigate for drivers and pedestrians alike, State Sen. James Sanders announced Tuesday.

The hub around the Jamaica AirTrain station on Sutphin Boulevard, which also includes the E and J train stops as well as the Long Island Rail Road station, a busy taxi stand and several bus stops, is one of the most congested corridors in the borough. 

“Right now this area has a gritty feeling... it's kind of ugly, it's not well designed," Sanders said, adding that hundreds of commuters constantly rush through the congested area, "fighting with traffic."

"We want it to be more upscale,” he said, noting that $7.65 million set aside in the 2016 state budget for the so-called Jamaica Transportation Center Station Plaza will make it "a better commute for all." 

As part of the plan, Archer Avenue will be widened in order to create new bus lanes and bus stop areas, according to Sanders, who worked on allocating the money with other state lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

New center medians will be added and a new traffic signal will also be installed at 146th Street, making it safer for commuters crossing Archer Avenue as they head towards the Long Island Railroad station, Sanders said.

Straphangers will also get new subway entrance staircases with canopies that will be constructed on the corners of Archer Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard.

Veronica Joseph, 53, a secretary who lives in Jamaica and uses the Suthpin Boulevard subway station on a daily basis, said improvements are badly needed. "There is too much traffic here," she said. "New bus lanes would make a difference." 

Local activist Kevin Livingston, who said the area around the train station has for years been "dimly lit ... and very unsafe to walk by," hoped the upcoming changes will make it safer.

Sanders said the improvements will also help attract more investors and developers to the area, which has been going through numerous changes in recent years.

"We want to make sure that as New York City grows, this grows," Sanders said referring to downtown Jamaica. "We need to make sure that commerce can grow and develop and Jamaica can become one of the back center for the banking community and for other communities."

Jamaica has just won $10 million as part of the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant competition which will further boost its economy, officials said.

There are also plans to build a 580-unit apartment complex and a 24-story hotel at the intersection of Sutphin Boulevard and Archer Avenue, across the street from the AirTrain station. 

Sanders said that he expects the project to be completed in about 1.5 years.