QUEENS — The city has started traffic improvements on a busy strip of Jamaica Avenue to make it safer for pedestrians and motorists alike.
The changes are being implemented between 168th Street and Francis Lewis Boulevard, an approximately two-mile stretch dotted with bus stops, storefronts and eateries.
Every day, hundreds of students from 10 neighborhood schools walk along the stretch, which has seen two traffic-related fatalities, including one pedestrian, since 2009, according to the city's Vision Zero map.
The improvements include resurfacing the avenue and installing new pedestrian signals on side streets at 171st, 179th, 182nd, 184th, 193rd and 198th streets, 197th St./Woodhull Ave. and 93rd Avenue, the city’s Department of Transportation said.
(Courtesy of the DOT)
As part of the plan, the agency will also soon install two pedestrian islands and extend eight concrete medians which currently do not reach crosswalks on Jamaica Avenue at 169th, 171st, 173rd, 176th, 179th, 183rd, 188th, 189th, 191st and 193rd streets.
(Courtesy of the DOT)
The islands will significantly shorten the 70-foot-long crossings, making it easier for students and other pedestrians to traverse the street, the agency said.
The DOT will also update the markings along the avenue, and a left turn lane will be added on Woodhull Avenue to improve traffic flow and make it safer for drivers to turn onto Jamaica Avenue.
The overhaul, which the agency discussed with Community Board 12 earlier this year, will be completed "in the coming weeks," the agency said in an email Thursday.
