6 times • JUNE 2, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com DOT looks to take illegal trucks off major Maspeth streets BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport Large big rigs continue to snarl traffic along two of Maspeth’s major roadways, and the Department of Transportation (DOT) is looking to send these trucks down the right path. In order to get this done, the DOT is continuing with its Maspeth Bypass Project, which will work to divert more trucks off of Grand and Flushing avenues and onto the bypass — which is the area of Maspeth Avenue, Maurice Avenue and 58th Street — and into the industrial district by various means. One way the DOT plans to do this is by implementing a truck enforcement station at the Flushing Avenue underpass where Rust Avenue passes over top, Michael Klatsky, project manager with the DOT, told the Community Board 5 (CB 5) Public Transportation and Public Transit Committees during their joint meeting on May 24. A truck enforcement station would have a police officer stationed there to make sure that trucks that are not allowed to be on Flushing and Grand avenues do not go that way. As more and more trucks get stopped by the police, DOT hopes the word will spread and truckers will just stop going down that roadway. “About two weeks ago our project team met with the NYPD’s Truck Enforcement Team as well as the local precinct, and we discussed the various ways how this could work,” Klatsky said. “They’re on board with conducting a temporary enforcement plan to see if this sort of thing can work, and perhaps it would be something more permanent if it works well.” The second course of action the DOT would take is to add better, more visible overhead signage, alerting truckers to the bypass and to not take Grand or Flushing avenues, Klatsky said. One option the DOT is looking at is variable message signs (VMS). These signs would be electronically triggered if a truck passes through an infrared beam, causing the sign to alert truck drivers to head toward the bypass. The DOT has looked into placing cameras at several locations along Grand Avenue, which will track trucks that have made their way onto the street and alert the police of any trucks that remain there too long so they can log repeat offenders. Another way to keep trucks off of Grand and Flushing avenues is to make those roadways more pedestrian friendly, essentially making them less enticing for trucks to come down. “There are things we can do to make Grand Avenue less attractive,” Klatsky explained. “We can implement treatments like curb extension, install street trees and shorter crossings … we know there are certain things that trucks don’t like and we can put them in.” Klatsky informed the committees that DOT has no plans for installing changes to Grand Avenue and the ideas presented were just options to consider. The next steps for this plan include developing a draft of a master plan and meeting with the Industrial Business Zone (IBZ) and Community Board 2 (CB 2). They plan on implementing the public input into the final master plan. Vietnam Veterans memorial is finally coming to Elmhurst Park By Robert Pozaryc ki rpozarycki@ridgewoodtimes.com @robbpoz It took nearly a decade, but a memorial to Queens’ Vietnam War veterans will become a reality at last. During this morning’s Memorial Day observance at Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens, Borough President Melinda Katz announced that the Queens Vietnam Veterans Memorial project is fully funded and ready to move forward. The monument will be constructed at Elmhurst Park, the 6.2-acre public green space that opened in 2011 at the former site of the Elmhurst Gas Tanks. Members of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Chapter 32 — under its president, Pat Toro, who died in 2014 — worked to convince the Parks Department to allocate a part of the site for the creation of a memorial dedicated to the 420 Queens residents who lost their lives in the conflict. Katz — then a City Council member — secured $500,000 in city funding in 2008 for the memorial’s creation. The Parks Department also agreed to place the memorial in a corner of the park near the intersection of Grand Avenue and 79th Street. When the Great Recession struck the city between 2008 and 2009, construction of Elmhurst Park moved forward — but plans for the Vietnam Veterans memorial there were stalled. Now as the borough president, Katz was able to secure the remaining $1.5 million in capital funds needed to fully fund the memorial’s creation. “More veterans call Queens home than any other borough, and the Queens Vietnam Veterans Memorial will be a fitting and dignified tribute to those who served,” Katz said. “Freedom is not free, and with the memorial, their service will be appropriately recognized and remembered for generations to come.” Two Queens residents who served in Vietnam and now hold leadership positions at the VVA expressed pride that the project will move forward. “It is important that we have a memorial that honors all of the Queens residents who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam,” said VVA Chapter 32 President Michael O’Kane. “Borough President Katz deserves to be commended for putting the funding in place that will make this much-needed memorial a reality.” VVA National President John Rowan, an Elmhurst native, added that while Vietnam War veterans never got the recognition they deserved during the conflict, the memorial would “help address that historical wrong by honoring all Queens residents who gave their lives in that conflict.” Now that the $2 million in funding has been secured, the project will enter the design phase. The Parks Department will work in close consultation with the VVA on how the memorial will look. There is no timetable set on when the monument would be constructed and opened. RIDGEWOOD TIMES/File photo The DOT takes aim at trucks illegally using Grand and Flushing avenues in Maspeth. Photo courtesy of Queens Borough President’s Office Queens Borough President Melinda Katz with Michael O’Kane and John Rowan of the Vietnam Veterans of America. (Photo courtesy of Queens Borough President’s office)
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