5
QUEENS WEEKLY, JUNE 23, 2019
Opponents of Ridgewood bus lane jam committee meet
BY MARK HALLUM
The Transportation
Committee of the Queens
Community Board 5 is
a rare place to see high
turnout, but residents and
business owners from
along Fresh Pond Road
packed into the small office
on June 18 to speak their
minds about dedicated bus
lanes along the street.
City Department of
Transportation (DOT)
officials presented a plan
to the committee they
claimed adds a net increase
in parking between
Metropolitan and Myrtle
avenues while projecting
better traffic flow above
the 3 mile per hour average
on Fresh Pond.
“We’re all invested in
this project and together
we have to find solutions
to make it better,” Banrey
said, explaining that the
project has been presented
to many organizations in
the area. “The magnitude
for projects of this size,
we don’t typically do that
kind of outreach. But the
deputy commissioner’s
office wanted to make
sure that we tapped into
folks. Of course we can’t
always get to everybody –
the census can’t even get
to everybody.”
But many residents
were not convinced with
the plan to add a dedicated
southbound bus lane
between 2 and 8 p.m.
claiming the expansion
of paid parking would
limits space for their
personal vehicles and
entertaining negative
business prospects.
“It’s very unpopular,”
said Giuseppe Palmeri, a
business owner who has
collected over 1,500 signed
petitions opposed to the
bus lane. “That being
said, the merchants were
not informed. We have
a lot to lose. If this plan
does not work the way
you think it will work,
we have a lot of skin in
the game.”
After the plan is
complete, DOT expects 70
parking spaces to change
designation.
Banrey said these will
be converted to 55 metered
spaces on Fresh Pond
and into the side street as
well as 15 alternate-side
parking spots.
Although the metered
parking will be two hours,
DOT provided a breakdown
of the use patterns of
existing paid parking spots
with only 15 percent of
motorists using a spot for
a full hours and 41 percent,
the majority, taking space
for less than 15 minutes.
No standing zones
on Grove Street will be
converted to loading zones
for trucks.
Because bus traffic is
the main concern of the
initiative announced by
the mayor’s office earlier
this year to speed up buses
across the city by 25 percent,
DOT will be removing at
least one of the five stops.
The bus system is
currently undergoing a
boroughwide redesign,
but the agency expects
there to be four total after
the consolidation.
Fresh Pond Road
receives high bus traffic
due to the fact that there
is a depot nearby that sees
the overnight storage of
not only the Q58 and other
Queens lines, but also many
that circulate Brooklyn.
The agency expects a 22
to 31 percent increase in bus
speeds during peak hours
after modeling Fresh Pond
ofter Utica Avenue, among
others, in Brooklyn.
But DOT also claimed
that the bus lane will help
vehicular traffic, offering
cars making a right turn
a place to allow through
traffic to pass by. Only
22 percent of visitor to
Fresh Pond Road get there
by personal vehicle, the
majority walking and
taking transit.
Agency officials said
they chose 2 to 8 p.m. as
the period for bus priority
because those are the
slowest hours on Fresh
Pond Road where it can
take up to 20 minutes to
get from Metropolitan
to Myrtle Avenues.
Community Board 5’s Transportation meeting saw a spike in attendance from concerned
residents and business owners regarding a bus lane proposal. Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS