(MTA) Draft Proposal
Jan. 13, 2020 By Kristen Torres
The MTA has announced that it will be holding two additional meetings–one in Jackson Heights on Wednesday and the other in the Rockaways Feb. 6–to provide residents with greater opportunity to provide feedback on its bus network redesign plan.
The first draft of the proposed Queens bus network plan was released on Dec. 31 and the changes have been criticized by many residents in Jackson Heights and the Rockaways.
The additional Jackson Heights community meeting came at the request of Assembly Member Michael DenDekker, who reached out to the MTA after receiving multiple complaints from constituents about the proposal. That meeting is now set to take place on Jan. 15 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 33-04 93rd St.
The MTA plan—which is still in the draft stage and far from being finalized—would eliminate bus service going east on Roosevelt Avenue between 74th and 83rd Streets.
“I am alarmed by some of the changes to bus routes – the Q32, the Q33, the Q47 the Q49, and the Q66 – proposed by the Queens Bus Network Redesign draft plan,” DenDekker said in a statement. “Cutting these bus lines that serve seniors, people with disabilities, parents, and children would have significant consequences for our community.”
A meeting for the Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst and Corona communities was already scheduled to take place on Jan. 30 at 100-01 Northern Boulevard inside the Langston Hughes Library from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. That meeting will still take place.
MTA officials said they’ll continue to take rider comments on the draft plan, and use the feedback for crafting the final bus plan, set to be released in spring 2020.
“Queens customers know how important buses are and how they can be used to serve the neighborhoods better, which is why we absolutely need our customers’ help reimagining how public transit serves Queens,” said MTA NYC Transit President Andy Byford in a statement Sunday.
