After a three-year delay, the city will finally move forward with the final phase of its Queens Boulevard Vision Zero project, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday, May 13.
Construction will begin in July along the so-called “Boulevard of Death,” with bike lanes from Yellowstone Boulevard to Union Turnpike with completion scheduled for November.
“Queens Boulevard, tragically, was synonymous with the problem of horrible deaths on the road, pedestrians, motorists, cyclists. Queens Boulevard — I don’t have to remind people who’ve been here a while — it used to be called the ‘Boulevard of Death’ and people would say it almost without even thinking about it. It had become so common, which is tragic unto itself,” de Blasio said. “When we put Vision Zero into effect, one of the things that I knew we had to do, and it would take time, but we would get it done, is address Queens Boulevard once and for all. And as we’ve done each stage, it has had a remarkable impact.”
The mayor blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of federal approval for the lengthy delay but admitted that opposition from Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz also played a role.
“I think she honestly felt that what she was proposing was a better approach for the community,” de Blasio said. “And we carefully — truly carefully — listened to her, thought about it, looked at it, but came to the conclusion that it wasn’t workable and that the original plan was fair. I think there were some adjustments made, but it’s based essentially on the original plan.”
