Rego Center Opening Causes Traffic Woes

By Conor Greene

The new Rego Center has only been open several weeks, but complaints have been pouring in from residents about constant traffic jams on the roads surrounding the huge retail space.

Local elected officials, community leaders and the city Department of Transportation are now looking into ways to alleviate the strain placed on area roads, including the Long Island Expressway, Queens Boulevard, Junction Boulevard and 62nd Drive. While some of the complaints focused on the center’s opening weekend, Community Board 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio said the gripes have continued since then.

And, while Kohl’s, T.J. Maxx and Century 21 are already opened, there is concern the problems will only worsen when bulk discounter Costco opens in the coming weeks. “The traffic during opening weekend was really horrendous, but we’re still getting complaints from people, mostly on 97th Street,” said Gulluscio. “Their concern is traffic, no doubt about it - getting ambulances in and out of the area, the public school down the block and pedestrian safety for residents and those going to the mall.”

Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) said that Queens DOT Commissioner Maura McCarthy agreed to review the situation now that the mall is open. “They’ve been working with us on this and I don’t think is a final deal,” he said, adding that he is hopeful traffic will be alleviated once the mall’s second entrance, located off the Horace Harding Expressway, is opened. “They [mall management] have been very responsive to us, and it’s a good thing to have the mall over there, we just have to iron out the kinks.”

The property is adjacent to the district represented by Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), who vowed to work with Dromm, CB 6 and the DOT “to make sure that we meet an appropriate balance between protecting the needs of the residents in the area with the economic benefits that the new mall brings.” She urged residents to contact her office with suggestions about improving the situation.

In a statement, a DOT spokesman said department officials met at the site prior to the mall opening and will be back there next week to review issues raised since the opening. Traffic patterns outside the mall are being monitored and requests submitted by community leaders and residents are being studied. The specific proposals include changing 62nd Drive to a one-way street, changing the timing of traffic lights on Junction Boulevard and 62nd Drive and reviewing the situation along 97th Street.

The DOT spokesman noted that many of the issues occurred on the mall’s opening weekend and said the department expects traffic will ease once customers and residents get used to the new layout.

Middle Village resident Lorraine Sciulli said she was disappointed how difficult it was to navigate the local streets around the shopping center on a midday trip there on a recent weekday. “It’s a horror. It was very hard to park as you would imagine. Totally tied up,” she said. “If more stores are coming in, they definitely have to make adjustments with the traffic. I don’t know what, but something has to happen.”

Despite the planned improvements, there is a feeling that more should have been done ahead of time to reduce the project’s impact on the neighborhood. “I expressed some of these reservations in advance when I was running for office, but now it’s there,” said Dromm. “I would have liked to see a ramp going to the expressway, and there were some other things that probably needed to be negotiated before the mall was given the okay.”

Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association, said the project has also led to constant backups along the LIE. He agrees that steps such have been taken prior to the center’s opening, such as creation of an additional lane on the exit ramp, to prevent these problems.

“It was insufficient five years ago and it’s only worse now because of the new mall and expansion of the Queens Center Mall,” said Holden. “They’re going to have to have an emergency DOT meeting to address all these concerns because when you can’t get around, people start moving away.”

Still, Gulluscio maintained that the project is beneficial to the community. “It’s become a destination, with everything located right here as far as retail stores,” he said. “You don’t have to go to Long Island anymore, and the economic base stays in Queens, especially the hundreds of jobs created. People aren’t happy initially, but it’s there so we just have to make it work moving forward.”

Woodhaven Blvd Safety Study Continues

Due for Release by Mid 2010, Public Meeting This Fall

By Conor Greene

City Department of Transportation officials met with community leaders last week to discuss the ongoing study of Woodhaven Boulevard, which is intended to prevent traffic backups and accidents along a 3.2 mile stretch of the congested roadway.

The meeting, held last Tuesday, was not open to the media or public. However, a DOT spokesman said a public session will be announced for later this fall, at which point specific details and proposals will be unveiled. Long term improvements being considered by the city include reconfiguring intersections, connecting discontinuous service roads and dedicating lanes exclusively for rapid bus service.

Several local officials who attended the meeting are urging the DOT to move ahead with immediate steps to increase safety along the study area, which stretches from Queens Boulevard to Liberty Avenue. According to the DOT, the study has been delayed because the department needed to obtain approval to expand the scope of the study to include additional intersections at the southern end in Ozone Park.

“The people living and working around Woodhaven Boulevard have waited too long,” said Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park). “Traffic along this corridor is an absolute nightmare. The DOT needs to take immediate action to implement some of the recommendations we discussed.”

Frank Gulluscio, district manager of Community Board 6, agreed that it is “taking too long” for the city to implement at least some of the safety measures. “There are things that can be done immediately and don’t have to wait for another capital plan. I’m talking about simple things such as looking at the bottlenecks, the traffic islands, signage that doesn’t cost too much.”

One thing Gulluscio would like to see added to the study is an increased emphasis on making the area “greener” to help offset the increases in pollution. “If there is going to be more traffic, what about the emissions?” he said. “There should be something in that plan regarding the environmental impact and the medians should be looked at.”

In a statement, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), who was represented at the meeting by her chief of staff, also called on the DOT to enact immediate reforms along Woodhaven Boulevard. “I understand the need to conduct the proper investigation and now that the study is complete, it’s time to start implementing the changes to alleviate traffic delays, especially around rush hour, and to protect people,” she said.

A DOT spokesman said that other “preliminary ideas being discussed” include signal timing modification, turn restrictions, refuge islands and high-visibility crosswalks. The DOT’s final report is expected to be released in mid-2010 with implementation of safety measures to follow.

One aspect of the plan that is likely going to be a hot topic of debate is the idea of replacing a parking lane along the boulevard with a lane dedicated for Bus Rapid Transit service. “Some people might be up for that, but to take out a lane on Woodhaven Boulevard concerns me,” said Gulluscio.

According to the DOT, there were a total of 495 accidents along the 3.2 mile stretch from 2004 to 2006, the latest figures the city used in the study. Still, despite the delays in implementing safety measures, and the increase in traffic, Gulluscio maintains that making the boulevard safer for motorists and pedestrians is achievable. “I don’t believe it is a lost cause by any means. We have a goal to make it better and we have to improve the quality of life,” he said. “I’m by no means giving this up.”

Girl Struck and Killed by School Bus

Hit in Elmhurst on Way to Francis Lewis HS

By Conor Greene

A 14-year-old girl was killed last week while on her way to school when a school bus struck her at a busy Elmhurst intersection.

Jasmine Paragas, an honors student at Francis Lewis High School who excelled in foreign languages, was hit at 8:10 a.m. last Thursday as she crossed 57th Avenue near the Queens Center Mall. She was pronounced dead less than an hour later at Elmhurst Hospital Center.

George Severino, 62, was driving the yellow minibus north on 90th Street when he turned left onto 57th Avenue, striking the girl in the crosswalk. The driver, who works for JEA Bus Company, stayed at the scene and was issued summonses for failure to yield to a pedestrian and for equipment violations.

There were four adult passengers in the minibus at the time of the accident, which occurred while Severino was transporting them to an education center for adults with special needs. He told the Daily News that he was too distraught to comment as he stood at the scene, weeping. “I’m sorry. I can’t talk right now,” he said. According to that report, Severino told police that he heard a thump, looked in the rearview mirror and say the girl lying in the intersection.

The driver has been involved in at least two prior accidents, according to state motor vehicle records. He was found guilty of an unsafe lane change in June 2007, and in 2006 was involved in a Brooklyn accident in which another person was injured.

Margie Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Education, told the New York Times that Jasmine was a freshman who excelled in foreign languages and English. “She applied for and was accepted into the school’s University Scholars Program, which is an accelerated program for high school students at Francis Lewis,” said Feinberg.

The accident occurred just minutes after Jasmine’s mother had walked with her across Queens Boulevard, which is known as one of the city’s most dangerous roads for pedestrians to cross. Her mother had entered a subway station before the accident happened.

“She made it safe, but still this happened,” the girl’s cousin, Mac Tecson, told the Daily News. “It’s horrible. It happened so quickly. Nobody can believe it.” A picture of Jasmine was placed in a front window of the family’s house, which is just blocks from the tragic scene. A crisis team was brought into Francis Lewis to counsel students and staff as they mourned the loss.

According to reports, the family moved to Queens from the Philippines about six years ago and live on the top floor of a three-story house in Elmhurst.

Neighbor Showkat Kazi told reporters that the girl’s mother walked Jasmine across Queens Boulevard to the Q88 bus stop every morning. “It’s very hard for me… to take it,” he told CBS-TV. “She’s just like my daughter. She was playing at my house all the time.”