Queens Blvd Redesign Phase 2: A Big Improvement With One Major Flaw

With the end of the year approaching and DOT presenting its plan for the third phase of the Queens Boulevard redesign next month, it’s a good time to review the second phase, which we last checked in on at the end of August.

The Elmhurst section of the Queens Boulevard project extends from 74th Street to Eliot Avenue, just past Woodhaven Boulevard [PDF]. The project converted a slice of the service roads that had been allocated to car parking, vehicle movement, and dead space into a new bikeway and expanded pedestrian space. Slip lanes between the service road and main road were also eliminated or redesigned to slow down drivers, and mall-to-mall crosswalks created more options for people to cross safely on foot.

At Van Loon Street (above and below), you can see how the new design changed the typical geometry of the service roads and medians.

Here’s a motorist turning across one of the redesigned transitions from the central roadway to a service road, where drivers are now supposed to come to a full stop instead of merging while in motion.

At the eastern end of the project, near the Queens Center Mall, is where DOT wants cyclists to take an inconvenient detour.

Westbound cyclists are expected to travel on the southbound side of the street approaching the mall, hence this two-way section of bike lane…

…which leaves this section on the north side of the boulevard untouched:

The westbound bike lane crosses back over to the north side of the street right before the mall:

With another segment of bike lane coming to Rego Park and Forest Hills, more people are going to face the choice of going out of their way to stay on a green lane, or saving time by opting for a dangerous but direct route.

Phase two of the Queens Boulevard redesign has plenty going for it, but the discontinuity of the bike lane is a major flaw that needs to get addressed in future iterations.