DOT’s Interactive Map Points the Way to a More Livable Jackson Heights

DOT's ##http://a841-tfpweb.nyc.gov/jackson-heights/map/?zoom=16&lat=40.74826&lon=-73.889&layers=B0FFFTFFTTT##new interactive map## of Jackson Heights can display several layers of information, like the number of traffic crashes and pedestrian volumes at certain intersections.

Since 2009, the Department of Transportation has been engaged in a major study of Jackson Heights’ streets and sidewalks. At the request of community groups and with federal funding from Rep. Joe Crowley, DOT has been developing a plan to make the neighborhood safer, less congested, and more transit-accessible. After two years of research and community engagement, DOT will be presenting its first recommendations next Saturday, February 12.

In preparation for the release of those plans, DOT has also launched a first-of-its-kind data portal collecting all the information about the Jackson Heights Transportation Study. (The portal was developed by a division of OpenPlans, Streetsblog’s parent organization.) Everything from community board presentations to raw, block-by-block data about parking occupancy is in one place.

The portal includes a new interactive map of Jackson Heights. Presenting information like vehicle speeds, pedestrian volumes, traffic crashes and parking occupancy, the map helps visualize what happens on the neighborhood’s streets. You can see, for example, how rampant double-parking blocks buses along Broadway: On one block, there are an average of 32 percent more cars parked than there are spaces. According to DOT, even more features should be available after next Saturday.

What’s presented on the 12th could also be extremely exciting. At presentations to Community Boards 3 and 4 last June, DOT proposed classifying all neighborhood streets into four categories laid out in the department’s Street Design Manual.

  • Through streets would be redesigned to move vehicular traffic more efficiently, without causing speeding.
  • Transit streets would have bus lanes, curb extensions at bus stops and lights coordinated with the buses. 74th and 75th Streets are likely candidates.
  • Slow streets would calm traffic with re-timed signals and traffic-calming treatments like neckdowns.
  • Some streets could be pedestrianized, with furniture and greenery creating new public spaces.

On top of that, DOT is looking at using curbside space more efficiently by adding more parking meters and extending metered hours, adding delivery zones for commercial vehicles, and using PARK Smart to price peak-hour parking more effectively. They’re also considering adding bike lanes and bike parking in the neighborhood.

Several ideas in this vein have been bubbling up through community-based efforts like the Green Agenda for Jackson Heights, a blueprint for making the neighborhood more sustainable released last spring.

All these possible improvements are only Phase I of the project, meaning they’re considered short-term improvements. Implementation would begin this spring. Phase II will explore larger improvements requiring either capital construction or more intense coordination with other agencies.

Of course, an ambitious list of potential improvements doesn’t necessarily turn into ambitious implementation. We’ll find out on the 12th.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Doubts About DOT Congestion Prescription in Jax Heights

|
Community activists in Jackson Heights have been complaining about congestion at the corner at 73rd St. and 37th Ave. (right) for years. A major traffic study of the area is underway, but according to a DOT spokesman, the department didn’t want to wait to implement "short-term initiatives" that could ease the problem. Problem is, some […]

No Love for One-Way Proposal in Jackson Heights

|
Congestion in Jackson Heights: The DOT needs some new ideas The Queens Times-Ledger reports on the "cool reception" given last week by Queens Community Board 3 and City Council Member Hiram Monserrate to the DOT’s proposal for a one-way pair of streets on 35th and 37th avenues. What’s most disappointing about the debate so far […]

DOT Presents Full Menu of Street Improvements for Jackson Heights

|
When large numbers of pedestrians, trucks and cars battle for limited space, you get a traffic mess. When that traffic mess is in one of the nation’s first high-density garden communities, which now is also one of the nation’s most diverse communities, you get Jackson Heights. City transportation planners are taking another shot at untangling […]

Eyes on the Street: Safer Streets Come to Jackson Heights

|
In June, Queens Community Board 3 overwhelmingly supported two traffic safety projects: a neighborhood Slow Zone for part of Jackson Heights and new pedestrian islands on Northern Boulevard. Now those improvements plus multiple Safe Routes to School projects are being installed. Clarence Eckerson Jr. snapped some photos earlier this week as DOT crews poured concrete […]