Queens drivers will see smoother roadways by the end of this month thanks to lower oil prices, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.
The mayor’s administration has taken advantage of low prices for oil — a main ingredient in asphalt — coupled with the warmer weather, to allow the Department of Transportation (DOT) to expand the number of roadways that will be repaved this fiscal year, which comes to a close at the end of June.
In all, 65 additional lane-miles of roads across New York City will be repaved, extending the 1,200 lane-miles originally planned for repaving by de Blasio’s office.
“New Yorkers who pump their own gas certainly know that lower oil prices are allowing us to keep more money in our wallets these days,” de Blasio said. “For the city, lower prices at the pump also means that the oil we buy to produce asphalt has been cheaper, allowing us to make even more of it.”
DOT announced that the Queens roadways that will see repairs are as follows:
- Queens Boulevard from Union Turnpike to Hoover Avenue;
- Hillside Avenue from 184th Street to 188th Street/Clearview Expressway to Braddock Avenue;
- Utopia Parkway from Horace Harding Expressway to Jewel Avenue;
- Lefferts Boulevard from Kew Gardens Road to Metropolitan Avenue;
- Kew Gardens Road from Lefferts Boulevard to Van Wyck Expressway;
- The eastbound service road of the Horace Harding Expressway from Kissena Boulevard to 164th Street;
- Ditmars Boulevard from 27th Avenue to Astoria Boulevard;
- And the eastbound service road of the Long Island Expressway from 99th Street to 108th Street.
“As we get closer to summer and look to attract more visitors to our beaches and other warm-weather attractions, having more miles of smoother, safer, driver-friendly roadways in Queens and elsewhere in the city will be both a pleasant surprise for motorists and a boon for our local economy,” said state Senator Joseph Addabbo. “I congratulate the DOT for taking advantage of lower oil prices and moving forward to more quickly repair an important part of our infrastructure.”
This comes as part of de Blasio’s 2015 $1.6 billion commitment to resurface roads throughout the city over the next 10 years.
