Mayor Bloomberg and the NYC DOT have announced they will implement more safety improvements along Queens Boulevard.

But critics, including Transportation Alternatives and Forest Hills pedestrian activists say that while they support the new safety measures, the city still needs to undertake a major overhaul to re-make the boulevard into an attractive, safe place for walking.

The city has installed new fencing to help prevent pedestrians from jaywalking, and has implemented Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs) at certain intersections, which give pedestrians more crossing time. Last month, the city installed plastic barriers at the intersection of Queens Boulevard and 65th Place to keep cars in specified turning lanes. It has also added more red light cameras and signs that mark where pedestrians were killed.

Critics say that these improvements cannot overcome the dangers that are inherent to the boulevard. Ultimately, DOT has to decide whether it wants Queens Boulevard to be a highway (over a busy subway line that pours out pedestrians) or a boulevard. From 1993 to 2000, there were 72 pedestrian fatalities along the 7.1-mile road. In 2001, there were four; in 2002, there were two; and in 2003, there were five.

Transportation Alternatives considers the street fundamentally flawed. "A rebuilt Queens Boulevard should have a substantially narrowed roadway without service roads, a greatly widened median with gardens, playgrounds and ball courts, separated bicycle lanes on the street in both directions and trees on both sides to emphasize the parkway aspects," said a recent Transportation Alternatives publication.  v