Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycling

Eyes on the Street: Queens Boulevard Gets Its Bike Lane

Behold the Queens Boulevard bike lane. Photo: Stephen Miller
Behold the Queens Boulevard bike lane (flexible bollards coming soon). Photo: Stephen Miller
Behold the Queens Boulevard bike lane. Photo: Stephen Miller

It's happening: DOT crews are putting down green paint and thermoplastic stripes along 1.3 miles of Queens Boulevard between Roosevelt Avenue and 73rd Street. The redesign is the de Blasio administration's most significant bike project to date and includes several pedestrian safety improvements as well. It was prompted by a long advocacy campaign for safer biking on the boulevard, which intensified after a driver struck and killed cyclist Asif Rahman in 2008.

Crews are working from west to east, adding a green bike lane, widening pedestrian medians, and installing crosswalks and signals for people walking between median islands. DOT has also closed off some of the high-speed "slip lanes" between the main roadway and the service streets. The remaining slip lanes will be redesigned to slow drivers exiting the boulevard's main lanes and crossing the bike lane.

Slip lanes are being closed or redesigned to reduce speeding. Photo: Stephen Miller
Slip lanes are being closed or redesigned to reduce speeding. Photo: Stephen Miller
Slip lanes are being closed or redesigned to reduce speeding. Photo: Stephen Miller

The Queens Boulevard redesign is an example of how DOT can use low-cost materials to act quickly, when decision makers treat a project as a high priority. Workshops were held in January. The design was revealed in March. The community board signed off in June. The mayor held a celebratory press conference in July. Now, in August, the first changes are on the ground.

New crosswalks between medians connect to additional pedestrian space at refuge islands. Photo: Stephen Miller
New crosswalks create pedestrian connections between medians. Photo: Stephen Miller
New crosswalks between medians connect to additional pedestrian space at refuge islands. Photo: Stephen Miller

Additional work, including small concrete median extensions and finishing touches like flexible bollards along the bike lane, should be complete by October, Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said last month. The design will then be cast in concrete as part of a $100 million reconstruction of Queens Boulevard that begins in 2017.

DOT will turn its attention to sections of Queens Boulevard to the east later this year and early next year.

Adding some protection to these bike lanes, which are slated to get flexible bollards, can't happen soon enough. Photo: Stephen Miller
Adding physical separation to these bike lanes, which are slated to get flexible bollards until the street is reconstructed in 2017, can't happen soon enough. Photo: Stephen Miller
Adding some protection to these bike lanes, which are slated to get flexible bollards, can't happen soon enough. Photo: Stephen Miller

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

City Council Vows To Override Mayor’s ‘Senseless’ Vetoes

Speaker Adrienne Adams vows to override the mayor's recent vetoes of two bills that would expand labor protections and minimum wage to grocery delivery workers using Instacart.

August 14, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Veto Oh No Edition

Mayor Adams has gone so far to the right in his quest to retain his office that he's not even listening to his own damn self. Plus other news.

August 14, 2025

Greenway Master Plan Shows the Way … For The Next Mayor

There's a master plan, now all we need is someone to do it!

August 14, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: Ostrich Parent Edition

Bradley Tusk and Randy Mastro team up to distract people from the much-harder effort of making streets safe. Plus other news.

August 13, 2025

As Mayor Adams Preps Veto of Minimum Wage Bill, Instacart Boasts ‘Squeezing’ Its Workers

Instacart's months-long campaign against pay parity for grocery delivery workers appears to have borne fruit with a mayor who claims he supports workers.

August 12, 2025

UPDATE: Speeding Senior Driver Kills Self and Two Pedestrians in Astoria, Pols Call for 20 MPH Limit

The Queens crash is another reminder that speed kills — and that the city has the power to lower its speed limit.

August 12, 2025
See all posts