You are reading

DOT Seeks Feedback on 21st Street Corridor, Aims to Improve Bus Service And Safety

Q103 bus on 21st Street (Photo DOT)

April 26, 2021 By Christina Santucci

The city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) is seeking community input about bus routes – as well as pedestrian and bike safety – on 21st Street in western Queens, as part of a study of the corridor.

The agency has established a community advisory board to solicit feedback and has set up a website where members of the public can comment.

The goal of the review – called the 21st Street Bus Priority and Safety Study – is to create a stakeholder-supported plan to improve bus speeds between Hoyt Avenue North and Queens Plaza North and to make the busy roadway safer for all those who travel on it.

Study Area (DOT)

Five bus routes are located on the section of 21st Street being studied – three south of 35th Avenue and two north of 35th Avenue.

The DOT has asked members of the public to submit comments about issues – such as crowded bus stops, aggressive drivers and double parking – via an interactive map. As of Sunday, 81 comments had been submitted, including 18 about a lack of crosswalks along the busy thoroughfare.

Meanwhile, the advisory board is composed of a variety of organizations and individuals – including neighborhood and transportation groups, elected officials, NYCHA buildings, representatives from city agencies, and area schools and youth organizations.

The DOT said local elected officials helped choose Community Advisory Board (CAB) members, and that the MTA was also on the board. The CAB is slated to hold its second meeting Thursday.

Richard Khuzami, president of the Old Astoria Neighborhood Association (OANA), said his community group has been gathering comments about 21st Street to bring to the CAB next meeting. OANA is a member of the advisory board.

“We have gotten a good amount of feedback already. We do the best we can to represent what the community wants,” he said.

So far, opinions have varied about what changes – if any – are needed on the corridor, Khuzami said.

A spokesperson for the DOT said the agency plans to use all of the feedback to develop several potential designs for the roadway, which would then be shared with the advisory board and members of the public. Dedicated bus lanes are among many potential options under consideration.

Agency officials said last week that they are in the initial stages of outreach and data collection, and expect to complete the study later this year.

The 21st Street corridor is among several Queens roadways included in the city’s Better Buses Action Plan – aimed at improving bus speeds citywide by 25 percent and reversing downward bus ridership trends.

Previously, the roadway was identified as one of 21 primary bus priority corridors by the DOT and the MTA through the Queens Network Redesign Draft Plan, and 21st Street was also designated as a Vision Zero corridor in 2019 because of an increase in pedestrians killed or seriously injured.

The DOT wrote that it launched the study “in light of 21st Street’s importance as a transit street and the evident need for safety improvements on the corridor.”

Additional information about the 21st Street study can also be found in a PDF presentation published by the DOT.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

City Hall beef: Mayor Adams blasts Comptroller Lander for not traveling to DC to lobby feds for migrant crisis help

Mayor Eric Adams tore into city Comptroller Brad Lander Thursday, criticizing the city’s chief bean counter for not traveling to Washington D.C. to push the feds to provide more migrant crisis support.

During the tirade, Hizzoner said Lander, who’s frequently criticized the mayor’s handling of the migrant crisis, should have already gone to the nation’s capital to advocate for the city to get more funding for the influx — especially since Lander oversees the city’s finances.

Jamaica post office launches initiative aimed to help prevent dog bite attacks against postal workers following release of USPS rankings report

As part of the United States Postal Service (USPS) National Dog Bite Awareness Week campaign, the Jamaica Main Post Office is educating customers on the importance of dog bite prevention. Last year, the neighborhood had four incidents of postal employees being bitten by dogs. 

On Wednesday, June 7, USPS Safety Specialist Giovanni Ortiz distributed fliers with dog bite prevention tips to customers at the post office, located at 88-40 164th St. 

Crook steals backpack from straphanger on Brooklyn-bound L train in Ridgewood

Police from the 104th Precinct and the 33rd Transit District are searching for a crook who robbed a man of his backpack while on a Brooklyn bound L train Wednesday morning. 

Police say the 29-year-old victim was on the northbound L train that was approaching the Halsey Street subway station on the Queens/Brooklyn border at approximately 8:35 a.m. on June 7, when the crook approached the victim, snatched his bag and fled the station. The victim refused medical attention, police said.