The rally will occur on Saturday, August 6, at noon, at the southeast corner of Woodhaven Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue (outside the bank), in Woodhaven. Residents, business owners, commuters, and anyone else who wants to object to this plan are invited.
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| At a November forum with DOT, attendees raised their hands to indicate opposition to the SBS proposal. |
The Department of Transportation (DOT) and MTA have put forth an SBS plan that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. It would eliminate a lane of traffic in each direction, reserving them for bus use only; ban key left turns off the Boulevard; and move bus stops
off of sidewalks and onto medians, so that riders will have traffic passing them on both sides, among other changes.
“Woodhaven welcomes improvements to our bus service and other public transit, but this plan is the wrong approach,” said WRBA President Martin Colberg. “Over and over, DOT has been trying to sell this plan to the public rather than seriously changing the proposal to incorporate community feedback. This rally will be a chance to let DOT know once again what we think of their SBS plan.”
"On our commercial thoroughfare, we are very concerned about the safety of pedestrians crossing the Boulevard and of bus riders who will have to access buses from islands instead of the sidewalk," said Maria Thomson, executive director of the Woodhaven Business Improvement District and the Greater Woodhaven Development Corporation. "We're also concerned about how other shopping strips will be be affected, and we would like to help them by speaking up against this plan."
“Please come out and help us advocate for faster and safer transportation, not Vision Zero Select Bus Service which will steal traffic lanes, safe bus stops, left turns, reasonable speed limits, and parking. We don’t need more gridlock and tickets that separate our people,” said QPTC Chair Philip McManus.
Last year, organizations pushing an agenda that ignores our community’s concerns held a so-called ‘rally’ outside City Hall. That event supposedly indicated support for SBS in our community. Yet that event was held far away from here, and included almost nobody from our community. Moreover, it was very poorly attended, even though a massive, influential public affairs agency touted it.
The SBS plan will affect the entire stretch of Cross Bay Boulevard and Woodhaven Boulevard, from the Rockaways to the Queens Center Mall and every neighborhood in between. Anyone interested in signing the petition opposing the plan is encouraged to do so at www.SaveOurStreets.nyc. More information about this plan is available at www.SaveOurStreets.nyc/faqs.
