Over one year ago, without community input, the Department of Transportation decided to reconfigure traffic patterns at the intersection of the fork of Grand and Flushing Avenues. Their plan was to make it tougher for trucks to travel eastbound on Grand Avenue by making the pedestrian island larger and eliminating the eastbound Grand Avenue lane. The new configuration forces trucks to Flushing Avenue for an extremely sharp turn onto Grand. Civic leaders and area residents warned that the new traffic plan would only make things worse. Well a year into the plan shows just that. It’s a disaster. Tractor trailers routinely get wedged in the turn and it takes several maneuvers to free themselves. As a result traffic is tied up in both directions on Flushing and Grand Avenues. The photo (above) taken in early September shows a truck wedged in as cars look to make u-turns away from the mess. Pedestrian walk/don’t walk signs and other street furniture regularly fall victims to the trucks, as does the sidewalk itself which is already being reconstructed after lasting only one year.