Whitestone Bridge Repairs Scheduled For Fall

Local Requests For 3 And 14 Ave. Exits Not Included
Adopted by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, these rules recommend that vehicular movement into an exit ramps deceleration lane should be controlled for at least 100 feet in urban areas.
At a CB 7 meeting last year, it was pointed out that both exits are about half that length and can be spanned in one second by a car going 20 mph.
The shortened lanes both empty out into the heart of the residential areas of Malba and Whitestone.
Pointing out that the increasingly busy College Point Corporate Park is generating heavier volumes into Malba, Bess Kalamotousakis, a Board member of the Malba Association, called for the state DOTs speedy compliance with federal highway regulations.
She said that the Malba Association has been battling the city and state transportation departments for a legally-mandated exit ramp at 14 Ave. since 1995.
"The shortened ramp does not meet minimum federal safety standards. This ramp is an accident waiting to happen," she declared.
Nearly $13 million has been allocated for two projects on the Whitestone Expwy., where it forms key links with the Van Wyck Expwy. and the Grand Central/Cross Island pkwys.