By Jeremy Walsh
The race for the District 30 City Council seat may be speeding up, but Democratic candidate Elizabeth Crowley was focused Monday on slowing things down on at least one block in Middle Village.
Crowley and residents near the intersection of 73rd Place and 66th Drive gathered to publicly ask the city Department of Transportation to study the possibility of placing stop signs or other “traffic−calming” measures there.
Crowley said she had asked Councilman John Liu (D−Flushing) chairman of the Council’s Transportation Committee, to expedite the process.
Jennifer Rup, a mother of 3−year−olds twins who lives on 73rd Place, said she has been writing Queens Department of Transportation Commissioner Maura McCarthy since 2006.
“She has not responded,” Rup said.
Pamela Petraccione, a teacher at the nearby PS 128, said traffic volume has increased substantially over the past several years along the street, which branches off from the heavily used Metropolitan Avenue. “School buses come down here now,” she said “Eighteen−wheelers, too. They realize this is an alternate route to 69th Street and the LIE.”
Residents complained of cars going as fast as 60 miles an hour and of big rigs scraping trees and occasionally bringing down telephone wires.
“It’s just the aggression that comes off of Metropolitan Avenue,” Crowley said.
Rup also wrote to City Councilman Anthony Como (R−Middle Village), whom Crowley will face in November. Como said he asked McCarthy to inspect the location in the hopes of installing traffic control devices.
“The DOT was here two weeks ago, clocking speed,” Rup said. She also said the 104th Precinct set up a speed trap along the road for three days recently.
A DOT spokesman did not return calls with additional information by press time Tuesday.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e−mail at jwalsh@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 154.
