Queens Boulevard bike lane gets kicked into gear after delay
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Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the final phase of the Queens Boulevard bike lane will be complete by November 2020. Photo via DOT
By Jacob Kaye
The long-stalled completion of the Queens Boulevard bike lane is steering into place after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that construction on the project will begin in July.
Known as “The Boulevard of Death,” Queens Boulevard has slowly been outfitted with a bike lane over three phases of construction dating back to 2015. The fourth and final phase – which was put on pause last year – is set to resume this summer and be completed by the fall, the mayor said on Thursday, May 13.
“When we put Vision Zero into effect, one of the things that I knew we had to do – and it would take time but we would get it done – is address Queens Boulevard once and for all,” de Blasio said.
The final phase of the bike lane – a 1.2 mile stretch between Yellowstone Boulevard and Union Turnpike – was put on hold prior to the pandemic after City Councilmember Karen Koslowitz and Community Board 6 opposed plans for the bike path in the district.
Koslowitz and the board said the Department of Transportation’s plan to install the bike in the service road would eliminate parking spots necessary to help support local businesses.
The councilmember proposed an alternative plan to de Blasio in February of last year, prompting the mayor to ask for time to mull both over, putting the brakes on the bike lane’s installation.
On Thursday, de Blasio told reporters Koslowitz’s alternative plan didn’t make the final cut. However, the mayor said the delay in construction wasn’t a result of having to consider a new plan, rather he blamed it on a lack of federal funding from the former-President Donald Trump’s administration.
De Blasio mentioned more federal funding for the project is still needed but was confident Thursday it would arrive soon. The mayor’s former transportation commissioner, Polly Trottenberg, is currently serving as deputy secretary in the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The plan, as proposed by the DOT, would make a series of safety improvements – in addition to the bike lanes – to a road long known for its high rate of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities. The changes are expected to eliminate around 220 parking spots.
“The city needs more bike lanes to accommodate today’s cyclists and the anticipated expansion of future cycling,” Koslowitz said on Friday. “While I am pleased that the city is moving forward with the extension of bike lanes on Queens Blvd., I am disappointed that Phase IV plan does not protect cyclists, nor does it minimize the loss of parking spaces. The objective of protecting cyclists while minimizing the loss of parking spaces has been accomplished in other parts of the city.”
De Blasio said he hoped the bike lanes, announced as one of his Streets Week initiatives, would put an end to the fact that the roadway is “tragically synonymous with the problem of horrible deaths.”
Lizi Rahman, the mother of Asif Rahman, who was killed on his bike in 2008 by a driver on Queens Boulevard, celebrated the announcement Thursday.
“We feel immense relief that we can finally close the book on this corridor that has caused tragedy for too many New York families like my own,” said Rahman, who has organized for safer streets in the wake of her son’s death. “Today’s announcement is a testament to our years of relentless organizing, and we are grateful for all of the Families for Safe Streets members who have turned their anguish into action and can celebrate this victory today.”
The safety initiative comes in a year that is on pace to be one of the most injurious to pedestrians and cyclists in New York City since the launch of de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative in 2014.
Last month, 99 pedestrians and 60 cyclists were injured in car crashes in Queens, according to NYPD data.
This story was updated at 5:38 p.m., on Friday, May 14, 2020 with comment from Councilmember Karen Koslowitz.
