Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Maspeth Bypass a complete disaster


Hey you're probably going to read cutesy press releases from the DOT in the local papers this week, saying how happy and proud they are to have put the Maspeth Bypass into effect this past weekend. There'll be favorable quotes from community leaders and local pols like Liz Crowley and Marge Markey. Well, I have news for you...

DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE.


Check out these complaints from people affected by this drastic traffic change:

"For the 1st time, I was driving the new one way streets today Saturday 10/03/11 at approx 1 pm. As I was driving south in the new left lane on 58th Street from 55th Drive to 56th Drive and 3 vehicles were driving in the wrong direction and almost collided with me head on, one vehicle was a NYC DEP vehicle. As I approached 58th Street and Maspeth Ave there were 2 traffic agents, but there are still vehicles driving in the wrong direction.

Soon after, as I attempted to drive North on Maurice Ave from Maspeth Ave towards the LIE (Borden Ave), there was a large amount of traffic backed up on Maurice Ave from Maspeth Ave all the way to the LIE. I have never seen this type of traffic delays in the past.

I am hoping that this is not the new routine for our area and that the people monitoring these street changes are aware of this.

Also 56th Drive had a new one way sign between 58th Street and 56th Street. Is this an error? 56th Drive was not one of the Street changes under this plan." - local business owner
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"Yes, I saw it Sunday, no one is paying attention to the signs." - local resident
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"I saw about 20 cars and trucks go the wrong way today while I was there for a couple of hours." local business owner, 10/4/11
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"This makes running our business much more difficult. Thanks for listening to our concerns and ignoring them.

I cannot believe you all went through with this after hearing our concerns. When we move our business out of Queens (and we will eventually) please know it is because of your lack of concern for our business." - major manufacturer
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"Well now I have seen it all. Today while trying to get some lunch driving as I have every day for more than 25 years I arrived at the corner of Maspeth Ave and Maurice Ave trying to make the left turn to go to the Clinton Diner only 100 feet away. I was directed to turn right and proceed down Maurice Ave towards the expressway - completely the opposite direction I wanted to go. So I made the turn and was impressed at how wide Maurice Ave was with all of the lanes going in one direction, and so did most of the other drivers who now were using all of the lanes to head to the expressway.

Well that amazement quickly dissipated as I was now in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam. It seems that the use of both sides of Maurice Ave was short lived when traffic arrived at 55th Ave only to find that you had to go back to one lane. (well isn’t that smart) So now all of that traffic is fighting to get back to one lane (ever try to argue with a guy in a big rig about who is going first?) SO I am the loser. 12 minutes later I managed to get back to the one lane to make the turn to go back to 58th street. Oh yeah, you remember I was just trying to get lunch?

I manage to get onto 58th street now finally heading in the right direction. You remember Maspeth Ave, that’s where this nightmare started, and now started all over again?

Wow 58th Street nice and wide but not wide enough. It seems that all of the truck traffic that comes out of the industrial area that used go to the expressway via Maurice is now going VIA 58TH STREET !!

Imagine that. So now they all have to head away from that expressway to get to the expressway Hmmmm. Well now we have 6 tractor trailer trucks try to make the U TURN at Maspeth AVE. You remember Maspeth Ave, that is where this trip started. I had to wait until all 6 trucks made the U TURN on to the now one-way street Maurice Ave, NOW doubling the truck traffic on Maurice AVE. I don’t see any improvement to congestion. SO now let’s see - right turn on Maurice - 12 minutes, left turn on 58 street - 9 minutes. So it took me 21 minutes to travel 100 feet. What should have taken less than half a block to travel now takes 5 ½ blocks.

What a driver's dream LOOK AT WHAT THE DOT HAS DONE FOR ME IT CAN DO THE SAME FOR YOU, TOO.

Now this of course is how it affects me personally, but let me tell you that some of the largest employers in the area are looking to move. The economic consequences to our neighborhood our retail stores the businesses that support the local industries will all suffer and will turn our community into an abandoned blight." - local business owner
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Holy crap, what a clusterfuck!!!! Janette, Maura, what the hell were you thinking?

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

They really have NO idea what they are doing!

Anonymous said...

where are the bike lanes?

Anonymous said...

Whoever thought of this is a complete moron. I've never seen worse traffic in the area. Taking the Q39 towards LIC, this adds about another 10-15 minutes to an already long commute. This is what my taxes are going towards? Bollocks! With the amount of money wasted on this they could have bought the St.Saviors property and built a park there.

Mad in Maspeth

Joe said...

It is NOT not about having any particular Idea or plan.

It IS about whatever it takes to drive all those white 3rd, 4th generation NYC middle class Maspeth Archie Bunkers OUT.
The mayor and his appointees sh*tz on those people any way he can possibly come up with to break them into submission or get them to move out.

You then replace those people with tweeded dumb sheep who vote Democrat forever, ask no questions and do whatever they are told.
A dumb society of immigrants is an easily directed and controlled society. Its also a pool of cheap labor close to Manhattan and the LIC waterfront

Anonymous said...

why the fuck didn't they just leave well enough alone?

Anonymous said...

As someone posted in another blog:

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy."

Ernest Benn

Anonymous said...

They're pulling the same crap in Whitestone, Streets that demand one way are denied and streets that don't want one way are being forced to take them. They deny four way stops where everyone in the community wants it and paint bike lanes all over the place. Total lunacy!

Anonymous said...

Is there a map of the redesign that someone can post here?

Steve Anderson said...

The original Maspeth Bypass: the unbuilt Queens-Interboro Expressway:

http://www.nycroads.com/roads/queens-interboro/

Anonymous said...

Kkkkkkkkkkkkhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnn

Anonymous said...

The Study Area can be seen here:

http://home2.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/maspeth.shtml

Anonymous said...

Re: Queens-Interboro Expressway, heard about that from some of my neighbors as I live alongside the CSX
railroad tracks on the Elmhurst/Woodside border.

Better to have a freight train pass through a handful of times a day then to have a busy stretch of highway with bumper to bumper traffic.

Yocap said...

The college edgeamacated genuisses get an "A+" for this one....

Anonymous said...

I would not want to ride my bike on a truck route even with a bike lane.

Anonymous said...

Westbound Maspeth Ave vehicles are turning right onto Maurice Ave and cut through the corner gas station to get on 58th Street to proceed straight on Maspeth Ave westbound towards Page Place. This is insane!

Anonymous said...

So it isn't possible that the drivers are at fault here for not paying attention to road signs?

Anonymous said...

There were no road signs. The lines in the streets weren't painted because of the rain. Saw them doing it Wednesday.

Anonymous said...

Louzy Chronicle doesn't have any jerk off quotes from politicians. Just some little story saying people are skepticle. What happened?