Urges Authority Rep To Push Service Increase
Members of Community Board 5′s Transportation and Public Transit Committees told an MTA official at its meeting last Tuesday, Apr. 22, in Glendale that expanded bus service is needed to reduce travel times and increase customer convenience.
Joseph Raskin, MTA New York City Transit assistant director for government and community relations, attended the meeting to discuss public bus service with the committee.
Raskin was asked to specifically address overcrowding and infrequent and inconvenient service on many Queens many bus routes.
Increasing population in the borough has made convenient bus service a growing priority for the MTA, Raskin said.
“I do think people are definitely wishing for bus service,” he said of the growing numbers using the already crowded Q55, Q38, Q54 among others.
“In general this reflects what is going on in this part of Queens and northern Brooklyn,” he added
Complaints surrounding the Q38 this winter centered on that line getting delayed by snow piled up at intersections and along streets after snowfalls. This route, which travels between Corona and Rego Park, runs along some very narrow, small streets and was significantly affected by this winter’s weather.
To remedy this problem, suggestions to possibly modify the route have been made, according to Raskin. He added that the issue requires more study before any action can be taken.
An aide to State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, Alex Maureau, offered to continue studying the issue and produce a formal proposal of alternative routes, then present it to the committee.
Among the bus issues discussed were outdated Guide-A-Ride listings on many routes, like the Q21 that need to be replaced. Raskin offered that new green panels at stops throughout Queens should have the correct information in the next coming weeks.
He said other routes had similar problems with its Guide-A-Rides, and all will be getting updated information and new bus stop numbers posted “in the next couple of weeks.”
There will also be new signs coming to routes in Queens to help riders know where the bus is, and when the next one is coming.
The signs will list a number that customers can text to, and “in 10 to 15 seconds you will get a response” telling where the bus is, according to Raskin.
He also said the Q55, which runs along Myrtle Avenue from Ridgewood to Richmond Hill, will increase service at rush hours in June, though more buses could create some delays on the route.
“It’s a street you have a lot of traffic on also, Raskin said, though he believes technology can aid its efficiency.
“We have more resources available because of bus tracking,” Raskin said.
“Managers now how the ability to keep better track of things. It’s a great advantage,” he added.
There was some slight criticism of the MTA bus service model. Public Transit Committee co-chair, John Maier said that the agency brings increased service generally after an area becomes more populous.
He would like to see the MTA be a bit more proactive rather than constantly trying to play catch-up after neighborhoods already are swelled in population and residents have become frustrated.
“Service is too often predicated on population,” he said.
In response, Raskin said the agency studies the routes and makes changes when it deems appropriate.
“Every year we do service investments at the very least we’ll look at it,” he said.
Changing an intersection
Banning turning options at the high-traffic, deadly intersection of Myrtle Avenue, Palmetto Street and Wyckoff Avenue got the support of the committee at the meeting last Tuesday.
Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano told fellow committee members that he met with DOT (Department of Traffic) officials the day before, Monday, Apr 21 to discuss their plan to make certain turns at the intersection illegal.
He related that information to the entire group the next evening where, “the committee was very favorable to all of it,” he said.
“We’re asking DOT to come to the (next) community board meeting (in May),” Giordano said.
Giordano would like the DOT at the next regular Community Board 5 meeting, scheduled for May 14, but “I haven’t pushed it,” he said.
At the meeting with Giordano and DOT officials were Brooklyn Community Board 4 District Manager Nadine Whitted, as well as City Council Members Elizabeth Crowley and Antonio Reynoso.
“We’re (all) looking to get some improvements done with traffic safety,” Giordano said.
The intersection sits on the Brooklyn-Queens border and any changes will effect communities in both Bushwick and Ridgewood.
Poor lighting, faded crosswalks and turning vehicles have in the past all combined to make this a tragic intersection, both after a death there in 2009, and again last year when Ella Bandes was fatally hit by a bus.
“We just don’t want that to happen again,” said Kenneth Bandes, her father, who attended last Tuesday’s meeting and supported the proposed changes. “I just think it should be a bit safer.”
At the meeting with DOT officials, the agency advised in their presentation to renovate the intersection by installing curb extensions, better lighting and flashing yellow warning lights, Giordano told the committee.
He said DOT officials would like to start work this June.
Though the committee is supportive of altering how traffic flows through the intersection, some members were also concerned about the unintended consequences changes will bring.
“I’m just worried about all this truck traffic being forced to turn.” Board 5 member Robert Holden said.
Maier echoed those sentiments. He is also “concerned more trucks turning could be dangerous,” he said.
Kosciuszko Bridge update
The bridge over Newtown Creek was opened in 1939 and is scheduled to be replaced by two new spans connecting Brooklyn and Queens, but the transportation committee is unclear when will work will actually begin.
According to committee co-chair Vincent Arcuri, the project is awaiting approval of the governor to proceed. The bridge proposals are from three potential builders, though the final plans have not been made.
“We await the formal award of the contract,” Arcuri said.
The construction of the replacement bridges will be 80-90 percent federally funded, with the rest coming from the state for a total cost of $550 million, Arcuri said.
An announcement of the awarded contract was supposed to be made public this past winter, but has not yet been.
Though it has not been announced, Arcuri will remain attentive.
“We (will) await the award,” Arcuri said. “Theoretically, it was supposed to be awarded in February with work to begin in March.”
The project is still scheduled to be completed by 2018.
Community Board 5 Transportation and Public Transit committees generally meet on the fourth Tuesday each month at 7:30 p.m. at the board’s office, located at 61-23 Myrtle Ave. in Glendale.
