Department of Transportation suggests transportation alternatives to avoid rigged bus cameras to disabled and elderly churchgoers

 

 Queens Chronicle

For months, members of Grace Episcopal Church in Jamaica have complained of being hit with traffic tickets when they drop off elderly people and those with limited mobility in front of the church on Jamaica Avenue, where the city’s Department of Transportation installed a busway in late 2021. Since then, parishioners have been working with area elected officials and the DOT to find a solution.

With tickets starting at $50 for parking in the busway and increasing up to $500 after several offenses, the cost has weighed on churchgoers. But part of the problem, says church vestry member Annette Manigault, was the lack of clarity on how the street and bus cameras ticketing drivers worked.

“We’re trying to make sure we can get the parishioners, especially our elderly or disabled, into the church, because no one was in knowledge of how the cameras are working, as well as the location being not accessible for cars coming down Jamaica Avenue,” she said.

She added that the nearest parking lots are several blocks away, making the need to drop off those with limited mobility all the more vital.

Under busway rules, no through traffic is allowed on Jamaica Avenue from Sutphin Boulevard to 168th Street, seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.; cars on the avenue must make the first available turn off of it.

In a recent walk-through of the site, which was attended by Queens Commissioner Nicole Garcia, the DOT clarified to parishioners that the busway does not prevent cars from accessing a given block of Jamaica Avenue — it tickets drivers from continuing down it for more than a block. Therefore, there are several ways churchgoers can drop off their loved ones in front of the church without facing tickets, as detailed in a DOT pamphlet the agency said it handed out at the walk-through.

If traveling south on Parsons Boulevard, drivers can turn right onto Jamaica Avenue, stop in front of the church, then turn right onto 153rd Street. Drivers coming from the east on Archer Avenue can turn right onto Parsons Boulevard before turning left onto Jamaica and making their drop off, then continuing onto 153rd Street. From the west, drivers on Archer Avenue can turn left onto 153rd Street and then right onto Jamaica Avenue. After stopping, they can turn right onto Parsons Boulevard and then right onto Archer again. The latter does, however, require churchgoers to cross the street.