Miller calls on DOT to eliminate parking spots in tangle over Merrick Boulevard bus lane
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Councilmember I. Daneek Miller said the DOT dictates decisions in Southeast Queens without listening to the will of residents. Photo by William Alatatriste
By David Brand
Councilmember I. Daneek Miller has a relatively rare request for the Department of Transportation: get rid of a few dozen parking spots to make way for a bus lane.
Replacing the spots on the northbound side of Merrick Boulevard along Roy Wilkins Park is a compromise that would suit all commuters, Miller says.
An existing bus lane takes up one of the only two driving lanes along the half-mile stretch of roadway, and autobody shops on the southbound side of Merrick Boulevard consistently clog the parking lane with beat-up junkers.
But the DOT has rejected the proposal. It would be too disruptive to the bus route and only push the beat-up cars into the residential neighborhood to the west of the park, officials say.
Miller said DOT’s decision is the latest example of the agency refusing to abide by the will of Southeast Queens residents, who welcome bus routes but in different spots than the ones that DOT has dictated.
“They do what they think is best for the community and I would submit that this happens to communities of color throughout the city,” he said. “The agency is horrible.”
Miller pointed to the example of the planned bus-only route along Jamaica Avenue announced earlier this year. He and other local leaders have proposed a busway on parallel Archer Avenue, which has fewer businesses than Jamaica Avenue.
When it comes to Merrick Boulevard, Miller and members of Community Board 12 say the top-down planning is making life difficult for drivers, riders and pedestrians. Shifting the bus route along Roy Wilkins would free up an additional traffic lane and prevent “derelict vehicles” from accumulating along the sidewalks and curbs. They also want the DOT to enforce the bus-only lane during rush hour, not 24 hours a day.
“Despite our office making these reasonable considerations known well in advance of the project’s original implementation date of mid-late October, DOT completely ignored these considerations,” he said. “This lack of disregard isn’t new, either”
DOT officials dispute the lack of community consideration. They say they have engaged local residents on the projects and continue to meet with Miller, a former MTA bus driver and union leader, and his staff on a weekly basis.
They say they have declined to implement a curbside bus lane along the Merrick Boulevard stretch of Roy Wilkins Park to prevent the buses from swerving between the curbside and middle lane when approaching or exiting the park.
Enforcement of the mechanic shop parking problem is up to the NYPD and the agency does not want to “harm businesses,'“ said DOT’s Queens Deputy Borough Commissioner Jason Banrey.
Banrey said DOT will continue to gain community input for public transit planning on Merrick Boulevard and elsewhere in Southeast Queens.
“The next round of outreach that we are going to have this winter is going to allow us to get more details on the community’s concerns and the councilmember’s concerns so we can have an educated and more intimate conversation with these businesses to figure out what the most appropriate design for that area is,” he said.
