Calling it “a good starting point,” Community Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano said that he will personally be in attendance at the public meeting to discuss alternate travel routes for trucks in Maspeth.
The findings of the year-long Maspeth Bypass and Intersection Normalization Study will be presented on Wednesday, February 23, and the Department of Transportation (DOT) is inviting the public to attend to give its input. The study explored alternative travel routes for trucks, identified truck route rule changes, developed plans to normalize intersections and roadway configurations, and proposed signs to reduce the impact of truck traffic on the local street network.
The study area is bounded by Grand Avenue, the Long Island Expressway (I-495) and the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (I-278).
It was on Monday, August 2 of last year that 13-year-old Frederick Endres was struck and killed by an 18-wheeler gas truck at Fresh Pond Road and Eliot Avenue. The driver remained on the scene and was issued three summonses, two for equipment violations and one for operating off truck route. At the time, the DOT confirmed that Fresh Pond Road is a local truck route, but Eliot Avenue is not.
“We expected the DOT to do something a long time ago,” said Giordano, who explained that the Community Board submitted specific recommendations to the DOT regarding truck traffic along Grand Avenue in 2001. “But I’m looking forward to Grand and Flushing Avenues being designated local – not thru – truck routes.”
Assemblymember Marge Markey said that, thanks to the concerted efforts of local elected officials and community organizations last year, the DOT will soon place official restrictions on portions of Grand and Flushing Avenues and work with the local 104th Precinct to enforce the new rules.
She explained that this is an interim measure to immediately reduce the flood of big trucks using Grand and Flushing Avenues as a shortcut from the Long Island Expressway to destinations beyond Maspeth.
“Getting big trucks off the commercial and residential streets of Maspeth has been a community goal for more than a decade,” she said.
But Giordano cautioned that “the alternate routes [drivers] are being advised to take becomes important.”
“People get off at Grand Avenue and 69th Street when the Kosciuszko is backed up,” he told The Courier.
A DOT spokesperson said that additional information related to the findings will be provided at the meeting, on Wednesday, February 23 at 7 p.m. at the Kowalinski VFW Post, located at 61-57 Maspeth Avenue. For additional information, contact 718-286-0886.
“I urge all Maspeth business owners, civic leaders and residents to attend and share their thoughts about the DOT’s proposal with me and other elected officials so we can get it swiftly implemented,” said Markey.
