By Douglaston Local Development Corporation
On behalf of the Douglaston Local Development Corporation, representing the Douglaston community, we are writing to express our strong support for the redesign of the Northern Boulevard corridor, as currently being performed by the New York City Dept. of Transportation.
The DLDC strongly supports the DOT’s current efforts to redesign the Northern Boulevard corridor for safety. This includes new, safe and protected bicycle lanes, improved pedestrian crosswalks and sidewalks, improvements to traffic-light signaling, and especially traffic calming measures to reduce speed and potential accidents along this dangerous section of Northern Boulevard, in our community.
Our many years of inclusive community visioning efforts, starting in 2009, have shown that our residents and businesses, and institutions, all support efforts to improve safety for all of Douglaston’s streets and public spaces.
Our published and documented Main Street Strategy and Strategic Action Plan completed in 2011 — and created with input from all of our community, civic, local business and institutional partners — specifically expresses the desire for improved public spaces, safe and improved pedestrian, bicycle and automobile corridors, and connections to our adjacent parklands and adjacent neighborhoods.
We were properly engaged, well in advance, by the Queens office of the DOT, to review their proposed design of the Northern Boulevard corridor (as well as connections to Douglaston LIRR and to Alley Pond Park). We find that it has been prepared in a very professional and state-of-the-art manner, using a “Complete Streets” and comprehensive traffic design approach.
It is also an important part of the mayor’s Vision Zero initiative, to improve this dangerous corridor of automobile-only traffic.
For the past decade, improvements to safety and quality of life, preservation of character, and revitalization of the Douglaston community have been, and continue to serve as, our primary goals.
We welcome the opportunity to continue to work with the DOT, and all of our community partners, to achieve these goals.
Board of Directors
Douglaston Local Development Corporation
