By Kelsey Durham
The MTA restored service to Fort Totten on the Q13 and Q16 bus lines last week after the city Department of Transportation completed a nearly 10-month construction project that restricted turn-around access within the Fort Totten parking lot.
The DOT began a project last June to repave Duane Road off Fort Totten Avenue in Bayside, where bus drivers complained that road conditions were so poor that they were no longer able to use the stretch of parking lot to turn around after completing their routes.
Instead, the buses were forced to use residential roads, which did not sit well with many community members and civic leaders.
“When I received a call from the community regarding the MTA buses using local streets instead of Fort Totten to turn around, I found out from the MTA that because of the potholes, they needed to use the streets,” said Marilyn Bitterman, district manager of Community Board 7, which oversees Beechhurst to the west of Fort Totten. “The potholes, which were extremely deep, would ruin the undercarriage of the buses.”
Now that renovations are finished, the Metropolitan Transit Authority will allow buses to return to using Duane Road inside Fort Totten as a turn-around area. Elected officials who represent the area expressed relief and gratitude after hearing that construction was completed and the buses would return to their normal routes.
“The decision by the NYC Department of Transportation to repave the Q13/Q16 turnaround will keep buses off residential streets,” said state Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside). “This is good news for our constituents in Bay Terrace.”
Other area leaders, including City Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside), said he understood the safety concerns involved with the buses using residential streets as turn-around areas, especially near schools. Vallone and Bitterman thanked the offices of other elected officials in the area for listening to the concerns of residents to make safety a priority while ensuring the necessary repairs were made to the bus routes.
“I am happy to have been able to help facilitate this repaving,” Vallone said.
Reach reporter Kelsey Durham at 718-260-4573 or by e-mail at kdurham@cnglocal.com.
