U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn, Queens) on Monday presented a community project funding check of $850,000 to the New York City Department of Transportation to be used toward Phase B of the Woodhaven Select Bus Service corridor improvements between 107th Avenue and Union Turnpike.
The project will implement capital improvements along the corridor, including median widening, neckdowns, normalized intersections and pedestrian safety enhancements to support safer streets and more reliable bus service along Woodhaven Boulevard, the congresswoman’s office said.
Velázquez presented the check to DOT Queens Borough Commissioner Nicole Garcia alongside community advocates and stakeholders in front of the Woodhaven Boulevard J/Z train station.
“Woodhaven Boulevard is a critical artery that connects Northern and Southern Queens and is used by tens of thousands of New Yorkers each day,” Velázquez said in a statement to the Chronicle. “This $850,000 investment will deliver long overdue safety and infrastructure improvements along this corridor, making it safer for seniors crossing the street, safer for students commuting to school, and more reliable for working families who depend on public transit every day.”
The congresswoman added, “Outer-borough communities like ours deserve the same level of investment as every other part of New York City.”
A DOT spokesperson in a prepared statement said, “We thank Congresswoman Velázquez for her generosity in funding this important capital work that will add new crossings, Raised Crosswalks, trees and plantings, and will upgrade more than 80 bus stops, sidewalk extensions, shortened crossings, and medians on this heavily travelled Woodhaven Boulevard bus corridor from Union Turnpike to 107th Avenue.”
Velázquez’s allocation comes on top of approximately $40 million in funding for the project, with $10 million in federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement funding and support from the city. It is estimated to take three years to complete. The design phase is expected to finish this summer, with construction slated to start next year.
The corridor hosts the Q52 and Q53 Select Bus Service. Improvements at the site began in 2017 with the installation of 6.85 miles of bus lanes, along with alignments; the addition of bus boarding islands and other amenities, such as bus shelters, real-time passenger information, seating and decorative fencing; new safety measures; and refurbished medians.
Since implementation, all categories of crashes and injuries are down along the corridor, per NYPD data, with pedestrian injuries down 20 percent, cyclist injuries down 80 percent, motor vehicle crashes down 36 percent and total incidents down 33 percent.
Bus travel times also improved an average of three minutes in each direction, and on-time performance was improved up to 80 percent, the DOT said.