16 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 1, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
DOT unveils street safety plan for Astoria waterfront
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
Members of Astoria‘s Community
Board 1 unanimously supported a proposal
by the Department of Transportation
(DOT) to improve a section of the neighborhood
that is diffi cult for pedestrians to
navigate.
Th e proposal, presented at a Community
Board 1 meeting on Feb. 20 focuses
on intersections at Vernon Boulevard,
30th Avenue, Eighth Street and Astoria
Boulevard. Th e intersections are adjacent
to the Astoria Houses and the Astoria ferry
stop that offi cially opened in August 2017.
According to DOT Project Manager
Dan Wagner, this specifi c project is diff erent
from others in that a DOT study found
that there isn’t a large number of traffi c
accidents in the area.
“Th e good news is that the safety data in
this project is very low,” he said. “Instead
of trying to address safety issues were trying
to pre-empt them from coming in the
future.”
Th e intersections in the project area contain
unmarked crossings and little signal
or stop control, making it diffi cult for
pedestrians to know when they should
cross the street. Th ere are also four bus
routes — the Q18, Q19, Q102 and Q103
— that share street space with cars and
pedestrians.
According to Wagner, the crossing distances
are also longer than average crossings
in the city. A pedestrian crossing from
Eighth Street to the triangle on Main Street
must travel 113 feet. Th e average crossing
distance is 30 feet.
Th e proposal includes adding two new
crosswalks at 8th Street and 30th Avenue and
30th Avenue at Main Avenue with enhanced
crossings. Th e DOT would also install
fi ve new curb extensions and expand the
Greenstreets Triangle with a curb extension.
One block of Main Avenue between
Eighth Street and 30th Avenue would also
be converted into a one-way street with
the new plan.
Th e plan would also ban right turns for
drivers going westbound on 30th Avenue
to Main Avenue. According to DOT data,
on any given hour there are zero to fi ve
Rendering via DOT
cars making that turn.
One moving lane would be removed from
Astoria Boulevard between Main Street and
Eighth Avenue and the 31 parallel parking
spaces on the block would become 41
angled parking spaces instead.
Two enhanced crossings will be installed
at Astoria Boulevard and Main Avenue
and another would be installed at Vernon
Boulevard and 31st Avenue. Pedestrian
warning signs will also be installed.
“It’s just a lot of good
improvements with a little
extra parking and the community
is in favor of it,” said Bob
Piazza, transportation committee
chair.
Vanessa Jones-Hall, an
Astoria Houses resident and
member of the Two Coves
Community Garden at the
intersection of 30th Avenue,
Main Avenue and Astoria
Boulevard, said her community
has been waiting a long time
for improvements like this.
“I’m so so glad that this is
happening because I’ve been
meeting with you guys and we
spoke about this because we
have not only members of our
garden use wheelchairs and
also have walking devices, we
have a heavy volume of seniors
and those with disabilities at
Astoria Houses,” she said.
Andre Stith, who is also a
resident at Astoria Houses,
added that the streets are also
used by children to get to
neighboring schools like P.S.
171 and Th e Young Women’s
Leadership School of Astoria.
“Every walkway that you just showed
contains traffi c for every child that has
to walk to school,” he said. “Th ey have to
cross there every day.”
Th e DOT will use “quick-response
materials” such as gravel or paint, markings,
signage and fl exible delineators to
make the installation process faster.
According to a DOT spokesperson,
work on the project is expected to begin
in spring 2018.
How come, MTA? Billboard outside Astoria station is big trouble: pol
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas is
calling on city agencies to remove a large
and “dangerously distracting” billboard
from the Astoria Boulevard train station.
Simotas sent letters to both the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
(MTA) and Department of Buildings
(DOB) arguing that its size — 672 square
feet — makes it illegal since it is in a C4
commercial district, which only allows billboards
up to 500 square feet.
In her letter to MTA President Andy
Byford, she said the billboard, which
sits at the intersection of 32nd Street,
Astoria Boulevard and the Grand Central
Parkway exit ramp “is the site with the
highest incidence of traffi c accidents in
our area, according to the 114th Precinct.
Th e MTA’s removal of this glaring distraction
would go a long way to mitigate
this major safety hazard.”
She also called on DOB Commissioner
Rick Chandler look into removing the
sign since Section 32-643 of Article III
Chapter 2 of the New York City Zoning
Resolution prohibits signs in this specifi c
district from exceeding 500 feet.
An Astoria assemblywoman is asking the MTA and DOB to remove a billboard from the Astoria Boulevard train station.
“I know this generates revenue for the
MTA but if the price is safety than they
need to go back to the drawing board
and remove the billboard,” she wrote to
Byford.
An MTA spokesperson declined a
Photo courtesy of Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas
request for comment and said the agency
would respond directly to the assemblywoman.