As I was posting this I started thinking, this reminds me of one of my ingenious -- if I my say so myself -- April Fools posts. After all, "Linear Park?" Heck, that's something I could have made up. But I didn't, and it's not a joke. It is actually real and I could not be more thrilled!
As I've often said on this blog, with all the improvements in terms of awesome restaurants, bars, coffee shops, apartment buildings, etc. (even the Midway Theater has gotten an upgrade), going on in the neighborhood, the one major thing still holding Forest Hills back was the horribly-depressing state of Queens Blvd., which is ugly, dangerous, dilapidated, etc. etc.
Well, if this plan comes to fruition, it looks like that one thing holding our neighborhood back from achieving its full potential will eventually be addressed---finally!
As the Forest Hills Post story states:
Construction work is expected to begin in 2019 for this phase. The Great Streets project as a whole, however, will move along the boulevard in phases, eventually reaching Yellowstone Boulevard and Union Turnpike in years to come.
Read all the details here: Queens Boulevard Will See Linear Park, Q60 Bus to Run on Median Under DOT’s Ambitious Plan
And here: QUEENS BOULEVARD ROOSEVELT AVE TO 73RD ST Great Streets Capital Presentation to Community Board 2 Transportation Committee March 5th, 2018
It looks they are going to turn one express lane in each direction into a Bus Only lane. My concern with that is the traffic buildup from the loss of an east/west express lane. The express lanes can already be dreadful during rush hours. As far as appearance goes, QB can be a bit dull since you have commercial strips broken up by residential buildings, the shops and walkable feel does not flow as easily as it does on Austin where you have residential buildings at one end, then several blocks of continuous retail.
ReplyDeleteFinely the "deconstruct" of Queens Blvd into a neighborhood thoroughfare vs the hellhole multi-lane "HIGHWAY" of Manhattan rush hour traffic that it has been . This can only be a wonderful rebuilding and reclaiming of this massive stretch of neglected roadway and making it more neighborhood friendly.
ReplyDeleteWhat will happen with only two rush hour lanes in either direction? THIS!!! it will quickly become prohibitive for anyone to use it to commute to Manhattan due to the huge bottleneck of traffic and within no time Queens Blvb will be labeled as a road to be " AVOIDED" during rush hour. "O JOY THE NEIGHBORHOODS WIN"!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, please!
ReplyDeleteNice effort, but it will be horrific traffic. No thanks.
ReplyDeleteYes, it will be horrific traffic indeed, but forget your "no thanks"- once the DOT has made up their mind, that's it, done deal. I'm sure they'll do some pointless community input sessions, but don't kid yourself, they're doing what they want. And yes, removing a lane of traffic in each direction will create more traffic. They keep thinking they can make cars go away. Maybe we should just turn the LIE into one big park and on the just the right day in the winter we can all ice skate into Manhattan!!
ReplyDeleteWhat do twenty-something "Urban Planners" know about urban planning? They have no experience.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's an urban planner of any age that would look at Queens Blvd today and say "This is the best we can do."
DeleteGive them a shot.
I don't think "give them a shot" is a great idea. They will spend millions of taxpayer dollars in the process, cause tons of chaos while doing the work and then if the design proves to be flawed they can't just turn around and say "oh well, back to the drawing board"- and then we're stuck with it for good.
DeleteQueens Boulevard is currently flawed. Its difficult to cross and is very uninviting as a pedestrian.
DeleteAlso, while 20 something urban planners have no experience, they did study best practices in urban planning. So they would probably know more about urban planning than most people on this board.
I think that it looks like the arrival and departures area of a Midwestern airport. Forcing riders to cross the service road to access an artery-clogging express lane bus stop reminds me of the hit 80s video game "Frogger". Why must bicycle lanes eat up a section of the service road when there is a glorious median between express lanes that has no true form or function? Build a proper cycling path in the center...spend some money on real protective berms instead of trying to use a paintbrush. Knuckleheads...
ReplyDeleteFinally, someone to agree with! Thank you! Thank you!
Delete