The Department of Transportation is doubling down on its plan to install protected bike lanes under the elevated tracks on 31st Street in Astoria after a raucous community board meeting marked by "childish" outbursts from opponents.
"Our proposal will better organize traffic on 31st Street, one of the most dangerous streets in Queens, to improve safety for everyone while keeping vehicles moving," DOT spokesman Will Livingston said in an email on Wednesday, after opponents shouted down bike lane supporters trying to give public comment to Queens Community Board 1.
"Y'all are very rude and disrespectful — to us and to each other," CB 1 Third Vice Chair Corinne Wood-Haynes admonished angry protesters affiliated with 31st Street businesses like Astoria Central Parking indoor garage and King Souvlaki food truck. "Like children, for real. This is embarrassing. Just regroup, take a deep breath and conduct ourselves like professional adults."
DOT's presentation to CB 1 focused on the agency's extensive outreach with local businesses since it first presented the protected bike lane in April. Officials met with the 31st Street Business Association on four occasions in April, May and June. They provided a bullet-by-bullet list of responses to seven specific concerns expressed by businesses, including new loading and delivery zones.
"Research shows designs like these successfully improve safety and support local businesses — and DOT has been working in recent weeks to meet with dozens of business owners along the corridor to adjust our proposal based on their feedback," Livingston's statement said.
The spokesman called 31st Street "one of the most dangerous in Queens," with two traffic fatalities since 2020. Protected bike lanes have shown to cut injuries and deaths among all road users, Livingston said.
None of that was enough for bike lane opponents who spoke at Tuesday's meeting. Dennis Xenos of Astoria Central Parking insisted that the bike lanes would make the street less safe for cyclists and pedestrians.
"DOT's plan will create a false sense of security of cyclists, reducing cyclist safety," Xenos said.
When supporters of the bike lane proposal got their opportunity to speak, all hell broke loose. Speakers at times had to talk over shouts from opponents — prompting Wood-Haynes's admonishment.
The board then took a show of hands from the public to see who was there to speak in favor of or against the bike lane — opponents, mostly affiliated with the business community, outnumbered supporters slightly, about 30 to 20.
The entirety of the area's legislative delegation endorsed the DOT proposal in a letter earlier this week.
“As elected officials and as residents of Western Queens, we strongly support the Department of Transportation’s new street safety plan for 31st St from Newtown Ave to 36th Ave. It would protect pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers while making our streets safer and less congested. Drivers will not lose a single lane for driving or parking," Council Member Tiffany Caban, State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez and Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas wrote in their letter.
DOT has said it plans to install the protected bike lanes in the late summer after the street gets repaved.
