A Railroad Wrangle

Community Board 5's Transportation and Public Transit Committee came back from their summer break on Tuesday, Sept. 16 with a lot on their plate: a backlog of traffic requests, updates on local projects and issues on the rails.

Railroad issues

Meeting at Board 5's Glendale offices, the group lamented the lack of progress on many of the issues surrounding the freight train lines that pass through the area.

"The question is what more should we be doing?" asked Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano.

In addition, there are continuing complaints of foul smells emanating from train cars carrying garbage through the area.

Board 5 Chairman Vincent Arcuri claimed that the New York and Atlantic Railway, the line's operator, is using less-secure "hopper cars," which open from the bottom and are not watertight, instead of more secure cars which open from the top.

The company claims that they simply receive the cars at transfer points on Long Island, according to Arcuri.

Giordano stated that NYA told the board it would meet with their customers; State Sen. Serphin Maltese is also working to rectify the situation.

Arcuri also noted that the safety recommendations with regard to the railroad crossings in West Maspeth—issued in June— have yet to be implemented.

"There's no statement, no reason, no schedule, no sequence," he lamented.

Palmetto Street update

The target date for the completion of the Palmetto Street intermodal is April 2009, according to Transit Committee Chairman Theodore Renz.

New sidewalks have been installed, and work is continuing. But he noted that despite repeated requests from the board, the scope of the project will not include the painting of the elevated train line above the intermodal.

Renz said he is attempting to find the money for painting at least two blocks' worth of the line.

"We're disappointed," he said, but "our goal is still that the el structure be painted as a complementary project" to the intermodal.

In response to a question from Arcuri, Renz said he is unsure of when the buses located at the intermodal, on Palmetto Street between Myrtle and St. Nicholas avenues, will return to their usual stops underneath the intermodal.

Bus line extensions

On the heels of the controversial extension of the Q45 bus route; Arcuri announced that the Q21 bus route has also been extended, now going further south on Woodhaven Boulevard to Rockaway Boulevard.

The route of the Q11, meanwhile, has been shortened; its southern terminus is now Pitkin Avenue in Ozone Park.

Committee member Edward Kampermann announced that he will join Board 5 member Paul Kerzner in introducing a plan to reroute the B13 bus line (and possibly the B20) to make stops at Highland Park.

Kerzner's Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association also seeks to extend the B20 to begin its route at the Palmetto Street intermodal, Kampermann reported.

Reconstruction projects

A $20 million city Department of Transportation project to replace the sewer systems in the southern part Middle Village is slated for Fiscal Year 2010, Giordano stated.

John Schell, who heads the board's Transportation committee, stated that streets which have heavy truck traffic, such as Metropolitan and Cooper avenues, have intersections that force the trucks to make very tight turns; he said the reconstruction project should ease the turning radii at those intersections.

He also brought the body's attention to a location on 73rd Place, where a local contractor has bought a property that used to hold a nursery.

Schell said that the contractor intended for the space to be trafficked by trucks and had poured concrete to allow the trucks to pass through the property, but it was recently learned that portions of the property may actually be owned by the city.

Schell also noted that the city's plan to build a series of retaining walls at the end of 73rd Place, by the railroad tracks and All Faiths Cemetery, is being modified after consultation with the proprietor of the cemetery, City Council Member Anthony Como and Board 5.

"They sort of went overboard with the landscaping that they had proposed," Schell said of the city. The new design will be more easily maintainable.

Lastly, Schell noted that 69th Road between 79th and 80th streets was "deleted" from the contract. "We don't understand why," he said. "We're sure there's a logical explanation but we'd like to know why."

Another project, the Cooper Avenue underpass reconstruction, is also set for Fiscal Year 2010.

Another sewer reconstruction project in the area of 54th and Maurice avenues, spanning portions of Community Boards 2 and 5, will begin in early October.

Giordano called the project "somewhat overdue."

The city will be installing a "big box" sewer on Maurice Avenue between 54th and 56th avenues during the night, and repaving on 54th Avenue between Maurice Avenue and 58th Street during the day.

The project is expected to take about a year to complete.

The resurfacing of Myrtle Avenue is "pretty much done," said Giordano. "They did a wonderful job on Myrtle Avenue."

Still in the process of being resurfaced are Cypress Hills Street between Fresh Pond Road and the Jackie Robinson Parkway; Maspeth Avenue between 61st Street and Maurice Avenue; and Forest Avenue between Myrtle Avenue and Woodbine Street.

Giordano noted a "big cave-in condition" on Forest Avenue between Woodbine and Palmetto streets. "All of that should be made safe," he stated. "Those are lawsuits waiting to happen."

Traffic safety request bonanza

The board entertained over 20 traffic safety requests from local residents.

While many were tabled for various reasons, among the approved requests were one for a loading/ unloading zone on the northwest corner of 68th Street and Myrtle Avenue and a second speed bump on 60th Road between Fresh Pond road and Mount Olivet Crescent.

Denied were requests for a noparking zone on Penelope Avenue between 80th Street and Woodhaven Boulevard and a speed bump on Myrtle Avenue.

Other news

Renz noted that Council Member Como has secured funding for the Myrtle Avenue streetscape project to be extended east past Fresh Pond Road, possibly to the intersection of Cooper and Myrtle avenues in Glendale.

Renz also noted that after the replacement of lightpoles, enlargement of tree pits and other improvements, the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District will have $250,000 left over, and the Transit Committee kicked around ideas for how to spend the money.

Arcuri suggested a possible renovation of the monument at Cooper and Myrtle avenues, or to join the city's new initiative to build public plazas throughout New York.

Renz also noted that Myrtle Avenue may join a pilot program for "congestion parking" where city muni-meters adjust their hourly rates based on the time of day. He said he intends to present the proposal to the BID.