Will Linden Place road construction ever end?

From the Times Ledger:

Reconstruction of Linden Place started in the spring of 2009 and was expected to be completed in the fall.

The first phase of the project, between 28th Avenue to 23rd Avenue, is nearing completion and is expected to open to the public this spring, according to an EDC spokesman. This is expected to provide direct access to the Whitestone Expressway and alleviate traffic flow within the College Point Corporate Park.

But the second phase, which covers 132nd Street from 23rd Avenue to 20th Avenue, will start this spring, the spokesman said. This would connect 20th Avenue and Linden Place and help alleviate traffic.

Work on the second phase requires the construction of a surcharge, which has to settle, he added. It also needs to pass a review process before construction of the roadway can begin.

The EDC spokesman said constructing a brand new roadway alongside a wetland is a complicated process that would require extensive mediation and new surcharge work.

But he said the new roadway would help connect the current College Point Corporate Park roadways in a way that will alleviate traffic congestion.

Homeless removed from underneath Whitestone Expressway

From the Queens Courier:

A team of city officials, police and advocates for the homeless swept into a makeshift encampment under a ramp to the Whitestone Expressway, relocating those taking shelter there to safer quarters and fencing off the barren lot.

The fenced off area is under the Whitestone Expressway on the border between College Point and Flushing and is popular among the homeless seeking shelter, according to Councilman Paul Vallone’s office. Police have known about the area and periodically evacuate it. Despite the fence, the homeless kept returning. But Vallone is hoping that the area will be rid of shelter seekers now that the Department of Homeless Services and Common Ground, a nonprofit organization, helped relocate the people who called the Whitestone Expressway their home.

Whitestone Expressway's 3rd Avenue exit to close for 2 years

From the Queens Tribune:

Drivers who use the Whitestone Expressway should prepare to make an adjustment to their driving pattern in the New Year.

The Whitestone Expressway’s 3rd Avenue exit will be closed to all traffic starting on Jan. 7 for approximately two years. The closure is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels’ Capital Improvement Project.

The 42-month, $109 million reconstruction will transform the 1,010-foot-long Queens approach to the bridge, rebuilding the roadway and adding new emergency breakdown shoulders. The southbound 14th Avenue exit ramp will be repaved as well as gaining a deceleration lane and new curbing.

Passenger vehicles driving from the Bronx-bound Cross Island Parkway will have to exit at Utopia Parkway (Exit 33N), and those driving from the northbound Whitestone Expressway will get off either at the 20th Avenue exit and or merge onto the Cross Island Parkway. All commercial vehicles must exit the Whitestone Expressway at 20th Avenue (Exit 15).

Linden Place construction delayed for 2 more years

From the Times Ledger:

The construction of a crucial road in the fight against College Point traffic has been delayed yet again, even while the development of the College Point Police Academy has proceeded at a clip.

Community Board 7 has wanted a portion of Linden Place repaired since the late 1980s after the road was closed due to flooding about a decade earlier.

Civic leaders said the city Economic Development Corp. first projected the work would be completed about four years ago, but last Thursday found out the road is not slated for completion until 2014.

“It’s a huge problem and it’s unacceptable,” said Chuck Apelian, chairman of the College Point Corporate Park Task Force. “They were able to get the police academy approved, in the ground and built. But we can’t get a road.”

The first phase of the College Point Police Academy is set to be operational in December 2013 and will include about 900 parking spaces to accommodate commuters to the training facility just off the Whitestone Expressway.

Apelian, also vice chairman of CB 7, said the reopening of Linden Place is crucial to accommodate the increased traffic the police academy will bring, especially when other developments in the area are taken into consideration.

An old familiar story

From the Times Ledger:

The construction of a crucial road in the fight against College Point traffic has been delayed yet again, even while the development of the College Point Police Academy has proceeded at a clip.

Community Board 7 has wanted a portion of Linden Place repaired since the late 1980s after the road was closed due to flooding about a decade earlier.

Civic leaders said the city Economic Development Corp. first projected the work would be completed about four years ago, but last Thursday found out the road is not slated for completion until 2014.

The first phase of the College Point Police Academy is set to be operational in December 2013 and will include about 900 parking spaces to accommodate commuters to the training facility just off the Whitestone Expressway.

Apelian, also vice chairman of CB 7, said the reopening of Linden Place is crucial to accommodate the increased traffic the police academy will bring, especially when other developments in the area are taken into consideration.

Several businesses from Willets Point were relocated to the corporate park, which is a special district designed to promote economic growth, and a new waste transfer station is set to open in College Point next year, where garbage trucks will drop off refuse.

“They keep putting projects into the district, but they won’t support the infrastructure,” Apelian said.

Yes, that's been the Bloomberg credo since he was first elected. Is this any surprise? Shiny new projects that include ribbon cuttings and groundbreaking photo ops are cool. Low key infrastructure projects are not.

Queens terror call released

From NBC:

A Queens terror suspect accused of intentionally crashing his car told police dispatchers he "loved death" as the FBI and NYPD moved in to arrest him on Jan. 7, 2010 for his alleged role in a plot to bomb New York City’s subways, part of frenetic 911 call obtained by NBC New York Tuesday.

Adis Medunjanin is heard on tape as he allegedly drove close to 100 mph along the Whitestone Expressway while counter-terror officials followed him that January day.

“This is Adis …we love death—,“ Medunjanin shouts before continuing in Arabic, “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger.”

Investigators have said after the subway terror plot was foiled, Medunjanin made a last effort to smash his car and call for attacks on Americans.

Last attempt at jihad

From the NY Post:

A Queens man accused of plotting a suicide bomb attack in New York's subways launched a last-ditch effort to kill someone by deliberately crashing his car into another vehicle, an official said yesterday.

Adis Medunjanin panicked after FBI agents searched his residence in January 2010. He later jumped in his car, sped off at 90 mph and slammed into another car on the Whitestone Expressway, an FBI agent testified in a pretrial hearing in Brooklyn federal court.

"He thought this would be an act of jihad -- that there would be an explosion and this would kill people," said special agent Farbod Azad.

Moments before the collision at the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge -- which caused minor injuries -- Medunjanin had called 911 to announce his intentions, the agent said.

"We love death more than you love life!" he said in Arabic. After he was detained following the crash, Medunjanin confessed that he caused it, believing it was his last chance to wage jihad.

"He viewed himself as a prisoner of war, caught on the battlefield," Azad testified.