By Nathan Duke
Community Board 11 could decide whether to make a busy Little Neck roadway one-way at its monthly meeting next week as residents plea with the board to alleviate traffic problems on the street.
Residents living on 254th Street between the Horace Harding Expressway and Thornhill Avenue in Little Neck said they have long been plagued by traffic problems, including accidents, congestion and cars having difficulty passing each other on the narrow strip.
“Years ago it was very nice and quiet here, but now there's so much traffic,” resident Jessica Orlowski said. “I think they should make the street one-way. It's a nice residential area and I've been here for 40 years. But now there's too much traffic.”
CB 11 District Manager Susan Seinfeld said the board could potentially make a decision on the street at its monthly meeting Monday. The board's Transportation Committee is currently not recommending that the street be changed, she said.
She said residents on the street agree that traffic on the roadway must be reduced, but they have mixed responses on making the street one-way.
“It would force people to go out of their way to get to the [Horace Harding] expressway,” she said. “It's a strange configuration of streets.”
Seinfeld said the board would make suggestions to the city Department of Transportation following next week's meeting.
Board member Frank Skala said he thought changing the street to one-way could prove dangerous.
“One-way streets make traffic go faster and that's not a good thing,” he said.
But residents on the street said something must be done to quell the traffic on the roadway.
Donna Fabbricante said numerous cars have smacked into the tree on the curb near her house, located at the Horace Harding Expressway-end of the street.
She said she thought the board should consider other options for the street, rather than make it one-way.
“Cars come too fast, flying down the hill,” she said. “The city shouldn't make it an inconvenience for us. They should consider making the street a dead end.”
She said there have been a number of accidents on the street and that cars often cannot get around each other.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
