You are reading

Watch: Sunnysiders Have Plenty to Say About 39th Avenue Bike Boulevard

Barnett Avenue at 45th Street, Sept. 22, 2021 (Photo by Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)

Sept. 24, 2021 By Michael Dorgan and Christian Murray

The NYC Dept. of Transportation is currently installing a bike boulevard on 39th Avenue in Sunnyside.

The QUEENS POST visited 39th Avenue on Wednesday and spoke to several people at random about the plan. The people interviewed happened to be either walking or riding their bikes in the area at the time.

The plan is complex and many portions of 39th Avenue and Barnett Avenue have been converted into one-way zones in recent days. The change has created space for the installation of a protected bicycle lane—which had yet to be constructed at the time of the interviews.

The overall street redesign, however, had gone into effect. For instance, the stretch on 39th Avenue between 45th and 47th streets (previously two-way) is now a one-way street going west. The DOT has also converted 39th Avenue from Woodside Avenue to 52nd Street into a one-way zone—westbound.

The plan has also seen Barnett Avenue—between 45th and 48th streets—converted into a one-way street going east. That section of Barnett Avenue was previously a narrow two-way street.

Most of the people who were interviewed—whether they be motorists, cyclists or pedestrians— were confused by the workings of the plan, and some wondered whether there was a need for such a major overhaul.

We urge readers to listen to the interviews and draw their own conclusions as to how the plan has been received. However, there were several themes that residents raised.

Many residents wondered why the DOT had to produce such a complex plan. Some said the addition of stop signs, traffic signals, speed bumps or crosswalks along 39th Avenue would have been enough to reduce speeding and make the strip safer. They questioned the need for such a major change.

Some said they didn’t see a need for a bike boulevard when there are protected bicycle lanes on Skillman Avenue and 43rd Avenue. Others argued that they now have to drive farther to get in and out of the area—which undermines the environmental upside to the plan.

Others were upset that parking spaces have been lost, despite the DOT saying that none would be removed when the plan was first announced.

Nevertheless, many people have praised the installation of new crosswalks for added safety along the boulevard.

The DOT acknowledged Friday that some spaces were being lost—although the agency said the number was minimal.

The agency, in a statement Friday, addressed some of the concerns and questions raised by residents. The full statement reads as follows:

“The Bike Boulevard on 39th Avenue will improve connections for cyclists traveling between Sunnyside, Woodside, and Jackson Heights — in particular from the 34th Avenue Open Street to protected bike lanes on Skillman and 43rd Avenues leading to and from the Queensboro Bridge. The design also includes pedestrian safety improvements and elements to reduce speeding and discourage cut-through traffic on this neighborhood street, without negatively affecting traffic patterns in the neighborhood. The project, which received a vote of support from the local Community Board, requires minimal parking loss (at most 3 spots per block in an 8 block area) for the safety design to proceed, while also including features to accommodate emergency vehicles. We will continue to monitor this area closely following implementation.”

The plan, which was conceptually announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio in May, has the backing of Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer. Community Board 2 voted 21-11 in support of the plan in June.

At the June community board meeting—held via Zoom—more than 20 people provided public comment on the plan, with the vast majority in support of it. Many of the supporters said they were cyclists who lived on 39th Avenue and said the stretch needed to be safer.

Part of the 39th Avenue Bike Boulevard plan includes converting segments of 39th and Barnett avenues into one-way zones (DOT presentation)

Part of the 39th Avenue Bike Boulevard plan includes converting segments of 39th and Barnett avenues into one-way zones (DOT presentation)

The DOT, when it presented the plan to the community board, said that the one-way streets would reduce the number of motorists using 39th Avenue as a through-street. The agency said many drivers were using 39th Avenue as a corridor and that the changes would help prevent speeding.

The conversion, the agency also noted, would free up space for the DOT to add a protected bicycle lane on 39th Avenue and pedestrian infrastructure. The bike lane, the DOT noted, would also provide a link to Jackson Heights at a time when Citi Bike is about to expand into Sunnyside.

Many residents this week said that they were completely unaware that the bike boulevard was coming until construction began. Most are struggling to comprehend the changes.

But many are hopeful that it will lead to increased safety once residents get used to the change. Others were less confident.


39th Avenue and 45th Street, Sept. 22, 2021 (Photo by Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)

New road markings have been going down on Barnett Avenue approaching 39th Avenue, pictured on Sept. 22, 2021 (Photo by Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)

New road markings have been going down on 39th Avenue, pictured, near 50th Street on Sept. 22, 2021 (Photo by Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)

Sign posts at the intersection of 50th Street and 39th Avenue, pictured on Sept. 22, 2021 (Photo by Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)

New crosswalk paintings have gone down at the intersection between 50th Street and 39th Avenue, pictured on Sept. 22, 2021 (Photo by Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)

A car makes a left turn onto Barnett Avenue from 39th Avenue, pictured on Sept. 22, 2021 (Photo by Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)

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

Advocates pen letter blasting Mayor Adams’ legal motion to suspend right-to-shelter

Homeless advocates penned a letter to a Manhattan Supreme Court judge opposing Mayor Eric Adams’ recent legal motion calling for the suspension of the city’s decades-old right-to-shelter law amid the ongoing migrant influx.

The letter, sent last Thursday and released Tuesday, comes in response to Adams last week filing a court motion to exempt the city from its legal mandate — established by the 1984 Callahan v. Carey consent decree — to provide shelter to single adults and adult couples when it “lacks the resources and capacity” to do so. The mayor and top administration officials say they’re not seeking to abolish the right-to-shelter, but rather “clarity” from the court that would give them more “flexibility” in finding suitable housing for tens of thousands of migrants.

Rockaway’s piping plovers among endangered species commemorated on U.S. Postal Service stamps

A day before the city reopened nearly 70 blocks of public beaches along the Rockaway peninsula for the Memorial Day weekend, the U.S. Postal Service and National Park Service hosted a special event at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel to honor the piping plover, an endangered shorebird featured on new stamps.

In attendance were members of the NYC Plover Project, a nonprofit with more than 250 volunteers, who have been on the beaches since March preparing for the summer swim season, who celebrated the newly released stamp sheet commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act.

Bayside High School hosts annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair

Bayside High School hosted its annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair Friday. Students from the Career and Technical Education Humanities and Nonprofit Management program each pitched their socially responsible products to students, staff and others in attendance.

Each of the 11th grade students in the program have been taking a college credit course from Farmingdale State College called Social Entrepreneur. The students were divided into 17 groups of five and tasked with coming up with innovative ideas to create businesses while also being socially responsible. The Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair grants them with the opportunity to work on pitching their products to potential customers.

Annual Memorial Day ceremony held at Korean War memorial in Kissena Park

On Friday, May 26, the second annual Memorial Day Ceremony in Kissena Park brought live music, local dignitaries, veterans groups, a presentation of the Colors by members of the Francis Lewis High School JROTC, a flower-laying ceremony and more to the Flushing community.

Those in attendance included Councilwoman Sandra Ung, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, state Senator John Liu, veterans groups, local students, Boy Scout Troop 253 and others.

Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade honors fallen heroes

Rain or shine, the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, touted as the largest Memorial Day parade in the United States, has been a staple of the quaint Queens neighborhoods since 1927. Thousands lined the parade route under clear blue sky along Northern Boulevard from Jayson Avenue in Great Neck to 245th Street in Douglaston on May 29 to honor the brave men and women who answered their call to service and made the ultimate sacrifice while defending their country.

Many onlookers sporting patriotic attire waved Old Glory and cheered on the parade of military vehicles, veteran and military groups and marching bands led by Grand Marshal Vice Admiral Joanna M Nunan, the first female commander of the United States Merchant Marine Academy. This year’s parade marshals were retired Master Sergeant Lawrence Badia and Vietnam veteran Richard Weinberg.