Quantcast

The Clearview’s logjam needs to be cleared up

By Bob Harris

During many morning and evening rush hours, 18-wheel trucks going south exit the Clearview Expressway at 73rd Avenue and block this street. Going south on the Clearview Expressway, those trucks find a bottleneck as they try to exit the Clearview to go on the Long Island Expressway. This exit going east is a narrow U-turn road, with an exit speed of about 10 miles an hour, so trucks back up to the north on the Clearview Expressway.

Several years ago the DOT re-designed this exit, but it is now worse due to that narrow U turn for vehicles heading to the L.I. Expressway to go east. If trucks tried to go faster, they would fall off this road.

To avoid this bottleneck, 18-wheel trucks exit at 73rd Avenue and go east under the Clearview to make a U turn and then enter the Clearview Expressway going north so they can enter the Long Island Expressway to go east. 73rd Avenue going east under the Clearview is three lanes and an 18-wheel truck sometimes has to go back and forth two or three times to be able to go north on the Clearview. If three or four 18-wheel trucks are doing this, then 73rd Avenue has gridlock. Someday half a dozen big trucks will do this and everything will be brought to a halt, or a truck will puncture a gasoline tank as they maneuver back and forth and we will have a big ball of fire.

One morning recently, my wife was driving east on 73rd Avenue and she had to wait for four light changes at this location before she could get by this mess under the Clearview on 73rd Avenue. The right lane going east is a stop, with a right turn then permitted. The center lane is for vehicles going east. The left lane is for vehicles going north on the Clearview Expressway. A few 18-wheel trucks can easily block this roadway.

In addition, this left-turn lane is fairly new and a left-turn traffic signal was promised but it was never put in. When someone complained, DOT said they will study it and it will take about six months… but it was promised already. During the morning rush hour there are so many vehicles going west on 73rd Avenue that it is very hard to made this left turn from the eastbound lane so a light is needed. Community Board 8 is looking into this matter.

FERAL CATS ARE A PROBLEM IN SOME NEIGHBORHOODS: The October 2015 newsletter of the West Cunningham Park Civic Association, Inc. wrote about the problem of feral cars on some streets and in Cunningham Park. It seems that New York City has a Feral Cat Initiative of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals. There is also a group called Animal Care Centers of New York City.

The city permits a certified caretaker to take care of a colony of cats if this person had a hands-on workshop on how to safely trap, neuter and return the cats to the wild. Note that the cats must be neutered to keep them from proliferating.

Some problems with having feral cats wandering in a neighborhood are the feces they leave behind and the fleas they may have and the howling they may do at night. The food left for them may attract bugs and vermin.

Feral cats are permitted if they are not a problem. If you do have a problem, try talking to the person feeding the cats to limit the problem. If this does not help, then call 311 or your local community board or your City Council rep or all three.