Working with Transportation Alternatives, the Juniper Park Civic Association requested a traffic study in an attempt to address pedestrian and traffic problems in our community. This report documents a workshop-based idea-generating process to address the recurring issues of roadway noise, traffic safety and community livability at the intersections of Grand Avenue, 69th Street and the Long Island Expressway in Maspeth. The area contains the commercial spine of Maspeth (Grand Avenue), playgrounds, bus stops, plazas, fire houses, and other features which characterize a community nexus. Passing through is the Long Island Expressway, its service roads, trucks and noise. The inherent conflict between these two uses – long distance travel and community center – is the subject of this process. It is believed that short and long term changes may be made to improve both the livability of the neighborhood and the efficiency of the travel network. The impetus for this work is roadway noise. The City of New York Department of Environmental Protection defines acceptable roadway noise levels, and to maintain a relatively quiet street is a concern of the New York Community Trust. The standard is roughly 82-92 dB depending on the vehicle type; measurements taken at the site range from 84 to 98 dB. There is a correlation between roadway noise and vehicle speed and size. If one reduces vehicle speeds, manage traffic to reduce aggressive driving, and organize traffic patterns to keep larger vehicles on designated routes, in short, to calm traffic, then the street will be less noisy. To tackle the noise issues vis-à-vis traffic calming, a workshop was held on May 29, 2003 at the American Legion Hall on Grand Avenue with stakeholders from the Juniper Park Civic Association, Community Board 5Q, 104th Police Precinct, Department of Transportation and the community at large. The 23 participants worked in four teams to look at the issues from the perspective of different user groups: pedestrians, cyclists, bus riders and drivers. The idea is that focusing on a single issue allows a group to engage in constructive dialogue about the overall issues, without having to solve everything. The teams were led by five transportation experts: Georges Jacquemart, a practicing traffic planner and engineer and noted roundabout expert, Gihon Jordan, the Philadelphia Center City traffic engineer, George Penesis, a practicing traffic engineer and planner, Jackson Wandres, a practicing urban designer and landscape architect noted for the NYC Bicycle Master Plan, and Larry Gould, a bus stop operations specialist with NYC Transit.

At the end of the workshop each group presented their ideas and received criticism from the others. The ideas were combined into a composite set of recommendations, which form the body of this report.

Recommendations
General
• Evaluate possibility of downgrading Grand Avenue southwest of LIE from a “through” to a “local” truck route. Through truck traffic would be redirected from the LIE to Maurice Avenue or 58th Street in order to access the industrial districts in West Maspeth and East Williamsburg.
• Reroute Q67 bus so it turns left onto westbound LIE Service Road instead of Grand Avenue from 69th Street.
•Mark a bike lane on 69th Street north of 58th Avenue. Color the bike lane through the area. The lane would continue to the north on this designated bike route, but not necessarily colored.
• Realign triangle formed by Grand Avenue, 69th Street and westbound LIE Service Road.
• Realign the westbound LIE Service Road between 69th Street and Grand Avenue northwards to improve sight distance and provide additional sidewalk space at the corners.
• Install bollards 69th Street between Grand Avenue and 58th Avenue where there is no on-street parking to protect pedestrians on sidewalks.
• Install bollards on Grand Avenue between 69th Street and the eastbound LIE Service Road where there is no on-street parking to protect pedestrians on sidewalks.

Grand Avenue & 69th Street
• Mark zebra crosswalks on all legs.
• Mark stop lines perpendicular to the travel lane on all legs.
• Create a bike box (via an advance stop line) on southbound 69th Street for cyclists turning left.
• Mark skip lines for 69th Street lane lines and bike lane through intersection.
• Prohibit left turns from NB 69th Street to westbound Grand Avenue. Drivers may turn left at the westbound LIE Service Road.
• Prohibit right turns from eastbound Grand Avenue to southbound 69th Street. Drivers may turn right at the eastbound LIE Service Road.
• Relocate bus stop on Grand Avenue between 69th Street and the westbound LIE Service Road to between 69th Street and 69th Place. The bus stop to the east of 69th Place can be likewise relocated so there will be no net loss of parking spaces.
• Relocate bus stop on 69th Street northwards so that buses do not stop in the crosswalk (this removes two parking spaces).
• Add a 7-second leading pedestrian interval for the east and west leg crosswalks.
• Reduce the existing 8-second leading pedestrian interval for the north and south leg crosswalks to 7 seconds.
• Construct a 6-foot curb extension at the southeast corner to prevent parking in the crosswalk and reduce the crossing distance. This will not remove any parking spaces.
• Construct a 6-foot curb extension at the northwest corner to tighten the turning radius (thus slowing drivers) and reduce the crossing distance. This will not remove any parking spaces.
• Construct a 6-foot wide pedestrian refuge island on the north leg to tighten the turning radius (thus slowing drivers) and protect pedestrians.
• Construct a 2-foot wide median on Grand Avenue between 69th Street and the westbound LIE Service Road to separate traffic directions and slow drivers turning from 69th Street.
• Install bollards to protect pedestrians at each corner where vehicles are likely to mount the curb.
• Install bollards to protect pedestrians from errant vehicles on the refuge island. Grand Avenue & westbound LIE
Service Road
• Mark zebra crosswalks on all legs. Mark stop lines perpendicular to the travel lane on all legs.
• Investigate a dedicated left turn lane from westbound LIE Service Road to westbound Grand Avenue.
• Add a 7-second leading pedestrian interval for the north and south leg crosswalks.
• Reduce the existing 8-second leading pedestrian interval for the east and west leg crosswalks to 6 seconds. Install bollards to protect pedestrians at each corner where vehicles are likely to mount the curb. 69th Street & westbound LIE Service Road
• Mark zebra crosswalks on all legs.
• Mark stop lines perpendicular to the travel lane on all legs.
• Prohibit right turns from SB 69th Street to westbound LIE Service Road. Drivers may turn right at Grand Avenue.
• Dedicate the left turn lane on northbound 69th Street.
• Change leading left turn phase on northbound 69th Street into lagging. Coordinate pedestrian signal on east leg to incorporate turn phase.
• Add a 6-second leading pedestrian interval for the east and west leg crosswalks.
• Add an 8-second leading pedestrian interval for the north and south leg crosswalks.
• Install bollards to protect pedestrians at each corner where vehicles are likely to mount the curb.

Grand Avenue & 69th Place
• Mark zebra crosswalks on all legs.
• Mark stop lines on all legs.
• See above re: relocated bus stops.
• Investigate changing the signal timing from 3 to 2 phase to reduce pedestrian delay.
• Construct a 6-foot curb extension at the southeast corner to tighten the turning radius (thus slowing drivers) and reduce the crossing distance.
• Construct a 13-foot curb extension at the southwest corner (where there is no turning traffic) to create only one lane from 69th Place. The resulting roadway will be 18 feet wide.
• Construct a 6-foot curb extension on the north side of Grand Avenue to prevent parking in the crosswalk and increase pedestrian visibility.

69th Place & westbound LIE Service Road
• Redesign parking lot entry on 69th Place and exit is further away from 69th Street.

69th Street & eastbound LIE Service Road
• Mark zebra crosswalks on all legs.
• Mark stop lines perpendicular to the travel lane on all legs.
• Mark skip lines for 69th Street lane lines and bike lane through intersection (not shown).
• Prohibit left turns from eastbound LIE Service Road to northbound 69th Street. Drivers may turn left at Grand Avenue.
• Prohibit right turns from northbound 69th Street to eastbound LIE Service Road. Drivers may turn right at 58th Avenue.
• Dedicate the left turn lane on southbound 69th Street.
•Add a 6-second leading pedestrian interval for the east and west leg crosswalks.
• Add an 8-second leading pedestrian interval for the north and south leg crosswalks.
• Construct a 9-foot wide pedestrian refuge island on the south leg to tighten the turning radius (thus slowing drivers), physically enforce the dedicated left turn lane and protect pedestrians.
• Install bollards to protect pedestrians at each corner where vehicles are likely to mount the curb.
• Install bollards to protect pedestrians from errant vehicles on the refuge island.

58th Avenue & eastbound LIE Service Road
• Permit parking on north side of 58th Avenue between 69th Street and eastbound LIE Service Road.
• Construct a curb extension at west corner to increase pedestrian visibility and reduce the crossing distance.
• Construct a curb extension at east corner to tighten the turning radius (thus slowing drivers) and reduce the crossing distance. This will not remove any parking spaces.

69th Street & 58th Avenue
• Construct a 6-foot curb extension at the northwest corner (where there is no turning traffic) to reduce the crossing distance.
• Construct a 6-foot curb extension at the northeast corner to reduce the crossing distance.
• Construct a curb extension at the southeast corner to tighten the turning radius (thus slowing drivers) and reduce the crossing distance.
• Construct a curb extension at the southwest corner to tighten the turning radius (thus slowing drivers) and reduce the crossing distance.
• Install bollards to protect pedestrians at each corner where vehicles are likely to mount the curb.

Grand Avenue & eastbound LIE Service Road
• Mark zebra crosswalks on all legs.
• Mark stop lines perpendicular to the travel lane on all legs.
• Prohibit left turns from westbound Grand Avenue to eastbound LIE Service Road. Drivers may turn left at 69th Street.
• Relocate bus stop on eastbound Grand Avenue from intersection. This creates a right turn lane. One parking space (near the parking lot entrance) will be lost.
• Add an 8-second leading pedestrian interval for the north and south leg crosswalks.
• Reduce the existing 8-second leading pedestrian interval for the east and west leg crosswalks to 6 seconds.
• Remove the right turn slip lane at the southwest corner and redesign the corner so that trucks turn in the intersection proper. Should Grand Avenue be downgraded to a “local” truck route, then the radius may be tightened.
• Construct a curb extension at the northeast corner (where there is no turning traffic) to provide more sidewalk space and reduce the crossing distance.
• Install bollards to protect pedestrians at each corner where vehicles are likely to mount the curb.

Brown Place & eastbound LIE Service Road
• Construct a curb extension at the southeast corner to tighten the turning radius (thus slowing drivers) and reduce the crossing distance.
• Install bollards to protect pedestrians on the curb extension where vehicles are likely to mount the curb.

Long Island Expressway
During the recent reconstruction a one mile segment of the LIE (near Maurice Avenue) was diamond ground. The typical roadway finish is to rake the concrete perpendicular to the direction of travel. Diamond grinding uses a machine which essentially “sands” the roadway, like sandpaper. After studies showed lower decibel readings at the “sanded” section. It is recommended that this procedure be employed at the section of the LIE near the study area, if not along the whole length of the expressway.

Platform
While the platform will reduce roadway noise in the area somewhat, the key to that goal is to cover over the Long Island Expressway, or at least sections of it. The trapezoid formed by Grand Avenue, 69th Street and the LIE Service Roads lends itself immediately to this end. Page B17 presents a plaza atop a platform over the LIE. The plaza would incorporate the sidewalks along the current bridges and be designed so that pedestrians could walk diagonally across the plaza, thus reducing travel time. It includes green areas, a reflecting pool, bridge, and a performance space. The “sculpture” in the center of the pool incorporates the exhaust system for the expressway below.