DOT staff will present a plan for bicycle and pedestrian improvements for Vernon Boulevard.

In response to an evolving western Queens, it is important to provide access to the waterfront and to green transportation corridors with amenities for Queens residents. Vernon Boulevard is a critical north-south route through this area and is identified in both the Queens East River & North Shore Greenway Plan and the 1997 New York City Bicycle Master Plan, and is now part of an ambitious multi-year effort to implement citywide cycling lanes and greenways. The Vernon Boulevard bicycle and pedestrian improvements include buffered on-street bicycle lanes and better connections to four parks on the East River shoreline, between the neighborhoods of Long Island City, Hunters Point, Ravenswood, and Astoria and between the Queens and Brooklyn waterfronts. The project also seeks to improve safety for all users of this heavily traveled street. Implementation of the project is scheduled for June and July of 2008.