Despite the small steps that are being taken to try to amend a recently changed Ozone Park bus route, residents say there are still major traffic problems in the area.
Those living on 109th Avenue, who first voiced concerns that the bus route had negatively affected parking and noise, say that a little more than two weeks into the new Q41 path, they are now facing the threat of major accidents.
The problem residents were seeing, said Geraldine Bruccoleri, was that the MTA had not mirrored the stops from their original layout on 111th Avenue. She elaborated that bus stops had been placed on the wrong ends of street corners. One instance she cited was a car travelling on 109th Avenue that wanted to turn south onto 116th Street. Because the bus stop is located at the turning corner, a driver now has to look to see if a bus is pulling out — possibly leading to a side collision, she said. As a result, Bruccoleri said cars have been forced to swerve around stopped buses and into the opposite lane to get around traffic.
Another problem, she said, was that the private bus that picks up her sister — who has Down syndrome — is blocked by the Q41 as it drops off and picks up passengers. Because of the double parked vehicles, traffic backs up.
The 109th Avenue resident said she has contacted Councilmember Eric Ulrich’s office about getting the bus stop in front of here home moved — as her mother has a handicap placard and her neighbor a handicapped license plate.
Ulrich’s office has looked into the bus stop, and a spokesperson said they are working on at least getting the bus stop moved from that location. A request has been put into the MTA about the issue, the spokesperson said.
Bruccoleri, who said she’s planning on attending the MTA meetings on July 23 and 25, encouraged MTA officials to come to the area and listen to and see some of the problems.
An MTA spokesperson gave a statement that reaffirmed the agency did not have plans to reverse the line and that the new route had been planned to speed service on the line.
