FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 18, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Residents suggest a litany of Northern Blvd. changes at safety workshop
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
Photo by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
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Long paper maps of Northern
Boulevard were rolled out onto cafeteria
tables at Louis Armstrong Middle School
in East Elmhurst on Oct. 15 during a public
workshop held by the city Department
of Transportation.
Attendees quickly marked up the maps
with green and purple doodles of trees
aft er Queens residents were told to make
suggestions about how to better improve
the concrete-laden, six-lane street.
“When places are more beautiful,
people slow down,” said Molly Felde, a
Queens resident who lives close to where
Northern Boulevard meets the BQE.
Other suggestions were made besides
turning Northern Boulevard into the borough’s
own Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
Residents wanted more lead time when
crossing the street, designated loading
zones, bike paths, fewer lanes of traffi c,
rush hour regulations, shorter pedestrian
crossing distances, curbside parking and a
plan to educate older drivers. It is unclear
about what the latter idea would entail.
Another suggestion was to merely have
basic traffi c laws enforced on a more consistent
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level.
Th e gathering at Louis Armstrong
Middle School was the fi rst of three public
meetings the DOT will hold to take
community suggestions in regards to the
roadway that’s been newly nicknamed
by activists as the “new Boulevard of
Death.” Monday’s meeting was to specifi
cally identify issues on the boulevard
between 68th and 114th streets, through
Woodside, Jackson Heights and Corona.
Th e exact areas that will be covered in
the second and third meeting have not
been fi nalized, according to the DOT.
“We are looking for the best and brightest
ideas,” said DOT Queens Borough
Commissioner Nicole Garcia.
Multiple attendees complained about
the recurrence of such meetings and a
lack of complete transformation.
In this year alone, four pedestrians have
died on Northern Boulevard as a result
of car collisions. Th ere have been 19
pedestrian deaths since 2009 with a number
of the victims being small children.
Th e recent death of 9-year-old Giovanni
Ampuero, who was killed while crossing
the boulevard with his mother, sparked
outcry and prompted a petition to the
DOT demanding changes on the street.
Th e meetings are a response to that
outcry.
Th e second DOT public meeting will
take place on Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m. at P.S.
151, 50-05 31st Ave., Woodside. Th e third
will be held on Oct. 29 at P.S. 166, 33-09
35th Ave., Long Island City. All of the
workshops begin at 6:30 p.m.
Northern Boulevard near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Woodside
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