Plans for a new pedestrian area between Hoyt Avenue South and Astoria Boulevard. Pedestrians already crowd this space, which is only set off from traffic by striping (visible under the simulated sidewalk). Rendering: NYCDOT

NYCDOT has proposed a significant street redesign for the base of the RFK Bridge (a.k.a. the Triborough) in Astoria [PDF], a package that should improve public space, enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and speed bus service across the bridge.

The redesign is the product of a DOT-sponsored safety workshop held in early 2009. Many of the pedestrian safety improvements will add greater protection to the paths that Astoria residents are already walking. A new sidewalk will link a senior center with the Astoria Boulevard subway station, for example, while a new pedestrian plaza will bring planted curb space between Hoyt Avenue South and Astoria Boulevard, where pedestrians currently stand between lanes of traffic as they cross to the train. 

The skinny arrows show new bike lanes for approaches to the Triborough Bridge. Buffered lanes are shown in blue, with regular painted lanes in orange and sharrows in light green. Image: NYCDOT

Cyclists crossing the Triborough will find safer bridge approaches, thanks to the addition of new bike lanes [PDF]. The DOT plan calls for buffered lanes along Hoyt Avenue North and South, and on 21st Street between Ditmars Boulevard and 20th Avenue. Regular painted lanes and sharrows are also slated for nearby streets.

New traffic signals will help get bus riders to their destinations faster. A special bus-only phase will give the buses a head start on traffic at the intersection of Hoyt Avenue North and 29th Street. Currently, buses have to pick up passengers along the right side of Hoyt Avenue North before quickly cutting across four lanes of traffic to get onto the bridge. Under the proposed redesign, buses would drive in a bus-only lane between 31st and 29th Streets, where the traffic signal would turn green for buses a few seconds before regular traffic. The only other exclusive bus signals in New York can be found at Columbus Circle and along the Select Bus Service route on Fordham Road.

Queens Community Board 1 hasn't voted on the proposal yet, but the bike, bus, and pedestrian improvements have proven uncontroversial so far. Changes like narrowing travel lanes to make room for cyclists or giving buses a head start didn't spur many comments when presented to the board's transportation committee on May 19, said district manager Lucille Hartman. One aspect of the proposal did draw criticism -- converting two blocks of Astoria Boulevard to one-way flow, a change DOT drew up to relieve bridge traffic congestion.

Astoria residents demanding a safer 21st Avenue. Image: indiejourno.com.

Over the last six weeks, Astoria residents have made a strong push for a safer 21st Avenue, a street plagued by speeding cut-through traffic. In response to requests for traffic calming, NYCDOT recently sent what one resident called a "cryptic letter" explaining only that the street would not be receiving speed humps. Although DOT is now studying additional measures, residents would like to see a stronger response from the agency.

Last December, Astorians held a rally asking the city to calm traffic on 21st Avenue. The seven blocks from 21st Street to 28th Street saw 36 car crashes and four deaths in just the last two years, according to the Queens Chronicle.

Rally organizer Helen Ho, the former vice-chair of Transportation Alternatives' Queens Committee, identified the problem with the avenue: "A lot of folks use 21st Avenue as a speedy bypass for Ditmars Boulevard. It's a stretch of road that for six blocks has nothing. No stop lights. No stop signs. No traffic calming measures of any sort. Some of the intersections don't even have crosswalks."

The call for traffic calming was widespread, motivated by concern for the safety of senior citizens, one of whom was killed on 21st Avenue last year, and for students at the two schools in the area. According to rally organizers, more than 50 people showed up in the December rain to ask for safer streets. The effort also has the backing of local politicians -- including Council Member Peter Vallone, Assembly Member Michael Gianaris, and Democratic District Leader Costa Constantinides -- as well as Queens Community Board 1, which requested traffic calming measures from DOT.

In a letter back to the community board, DOT stated only that it could not install speed humps on 21st Avenue, because it's a bus route. No other solution was proposed.

"Speed bumps were never specifically requested," says Ho. Both the rally participants and the community board asked for whatever form of traffic calming the DOT found to be most effective and appropriate. In the words of Constantinides, "We're not saying what tool they need to pull out, but we know they need to pull something out of their toolbox."

Speed humps are far from the only option at DOT's disposal. The Traffic Calming section of the DOT's website shows that a wide array of techniques have already been employed, from narrowing the roadway to installing pedestrian bulb-outs. The Street Design Manual, released last spring, offers an entire section on traffic calming techniques, most of which do not require "raised speed reducers."

Noah Budnick, the senior policy advisor at Transportation Alternatives, identified traffic calming along DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn as a potential model for 21st Avenue. On DeKalb, the street was narrowed by installing a bike lane and bus bulbs. "'Because it's a bus route' isn't a substantial or legitimate reason to tell a community that it can't have a safer street," said Budnick.

"I see no purpose to this [zoning] text change," said Community Board 1 chairperson Vinicio Donato. Board 1 voted down the zoning amendment, 25 to 8 (one abstention). The bicycle parking proposal is being voted on citywide by all community boards. After the boards' vote, DCP will hold a public hearing in January and the City Council has the final vote.

There you have it. Even after hearing a City Planning presentation explaining how better bike parking options would reduce congestion, improve air quality, and boost public health, Donato -- who has chaired CB1 since 1975 -- claims not to see the point of providing secure places for people to put their bikes. His stance may carry no binding authority, but Donato's board is assumed to speak for the community at large.

Note that CB1's zoning and variance committee did approve the bike parking measure. The whole situation is reminiscent of the Vernon Boulevard bike lane discussion last summer. Back then, CB1 refused to put the measure to a vote in a general meeting, opting instead to send a letter of opposition to DOT and local electeds.

We've seen determined activism from the Inwood and Washington Heights Livable Streets Group gradually pay dividends in northern Manhattan's CB12. Transportation Alternatives' Queens Committee has been just as active in western Queens. Will persistent local support for livable streets start to sway CB1?

A bicyclist was struck and killed on a Queens street by a van early yesterday morning, police said.

The unidentified 35 year old man was hit on 23rd street in Astoria around 1 a.m. by a Dodge Caravan, said police.  The van's driver will not face charges.

The crash actually occurred at 23rd Avenue and 27th Street. Streetsblog has a request in to NYPD for more details on the circumstances of the crash.

Flores, 35, was born in Peru and often busked with Andean bands in the subway. One commenter on a local blog remembers his talents:

Arturo Flores, as a longtime member of the band Inca Son, played on some of the most prestigious stages in this country. He was a brilliant musician who could play the Andean flutes like nobody else I’ve ever heard. He did traditional tunes but could also improvise. He could even replicate complex rock melodies like "Stairway to Heaven" on the quena.

A wake was held for Flores last night. His death is the second stark reminder we've seen this month of how much traffic violence goes unreported in the press.

From Transportation Alternatives' Queens Committee Chair Mike Heffron:

At the Queens Community Board 2 general meeting on Thursday, May 1, with no vote by board members, Chair Joe Conley delayed the board's input on the Department of Transportation's planned pedestrian and cyclist improvements to Vernon Boulevard, an important link in the proposed Queens East River Greenway. DOT can move forward with the Greenway plan with or without CB 2's approval.

The DOT plan [PDF] calls for removal of the majority of parking along the East River side of Vernon from 45th Ave to its termination at Main St. In place of parking the DOT plans to put down a painted bike lane in both directions, with painted buffers between the lanes and auto traffic. Also proposed are additional traffic calming improvements along Vernon and a pedestrian relief Green Street to be installed at Queensbridge Park. Two weeks prior the proposal was unveiled to CB 2's Land Use Committee, which voted unanimously in favor.

Community board members had a lot of questions, and there was a lot of confusion about where parking would be removed. There also seemed to be confusion about the actual widths of streets, as well as thoughts that the bike lane be placed on 11th St., farther from the river. One member wondered if there was a need to provide anything for cyclists at all. There was also concern that the crossing along Jackson Ave. is "too dangerous" and that cyclists should instead be routed down to the river and back up Borden Ave. to access the Pulaski Bridge. Conley had issues with double parking in the Hunters Point commercial area -- an area where parking will not be removed and no bike lane is proposed. Because of the parking issue and "congestion" in the area Conley felt that it would be too dangerous to suggest cyclists ride with traffic there.

DOT's Ryan Russo pointed out that removing parking now, before zoning changes bring in new residential buildings, will encourage new residents to move to the area without their cars. He also noted that cyclists, like most commuters, will take the path that best serves them, that DOT can't dictate that riders take an out of the way route because it may or may not be safer, and that DOT can best serve everyone by improving safety on presently favored routes. He also repeated several times that parking will not be removed in the Hunters Point commercial district. But Russo had no one from the community to back him up, as the public input period was held at the beginning of the meeting, over an hour before his presentation.

With the hands of several community board members still in the air, Conley decided to table the proposal because "parking is an issue still in Hunters Point." And with no vote, he unilaterally ended discussion and requested that DOT come back with a revised plan. This despite the earlier unanimous vote by the Land Use Committee supporting the proposal and the fact that Community Boards only have "advisory" power over decisions such as these.

The first half of this project, which runs through CB 2's jurisdiction, was slated to begin in June. TA's Queens Committee will continue to fight to make sure it starts as close to June as possible. This is a speed bump, not a dead end, but it is another important lesson on the power community boards hold over livable streets initiatives.

Move over, biker babes. A presumably tongue-in-cheek article in the Observer heralds the "Californication of New York," thanks to the proliferation of automobiles in "young, lifestyle neighborhoods" like Williamsburg, Astoria and Inwood.

According to the piece, a growing number of suburban transplants see auto reliance as a comforting reminder of home.

"I didn't realize how much I missed the car until I had it here," said Lauren Robinson, a 25-year-old dietician with pixie-cut brown hair, a fetching dimple, and a bearded beau who was dutifully loading groceries into her Honda CR-V. The Honda was a relic of her youth in upstate New York, but she had recently brought it to the city after moving from car-hostile Manhattan to auto-friendly Brooklyn. She didn't really need the vehicle, and, theoretically, she could have grabbed a bus to Fairway. But, as she explained, "It's just so easy to jump in and drive somewhere."

"I don't think you need a car," she said, "but I think it's definitely a plus. And it definitely makes me feel more" -- she paused to search for the word -- "well, not like such a city person."

The article says the relative ease of keeping a car almost anywhere outside Lower Manhattan, due in part to auto-centric development and plentiful parking, makes the city a "drivers' paradise." It even gives a wink to that most heartwarming ritual of suburban youth: drunk driving.

Perhaps the real sign of the car culture apocalypse -- the hint that, when it comes to wheels at least, Williamsburg and Winnetka might not be so different after all -- is the sobriety check that cops have set up on Meeker Avenue, near one of the on-ramps to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway ... A floating barricade of police, batons and breath-a-lizers, just like back home!

And what of the costs, environmental or otherwise, of bringing a "four-wheeled friend" to the city?

"It just seems to me, if I stop driving my car, I don't think that's doing anything about the real issue," said Hans, a 31-year-old Williamsburg media guy (and musician, of course) with a receding, Jack Nicholson hairline and Chattanooga drawl, as he eyed his silver Elantra. "I know I'm contributing to it, but the end of the day, I obviously don't feel bad enough about it to not drive my car."

Photo: Love_is/Flickr