New bike lanes in Astoria Park as part of the Queens East River & North Shore Greenway
For a few weeks now, there has been construction going on down at Astoria Park – it looks like they’ve ripped out the sidewalk and edges of the park all along Shore Blvd. It’s blocked off by plastic orange fencing and the trees are surrounded by wooden slats, supposedly to keep them safe and indicate…
For a few weeks now, there has been construction going on down at Astoria Park – it looks like they’ve ripped out the sidewalk and edges of the park all along Shore Blvd. It’s blocked off by plastic orange fencing and the trees are surrounded by wooden slats, supposedly to keep them safe and indicate they are not to be cut down.
Just Thursday morning there were construction guys with jackhammers breaking up the sidewalk area close to the Hell Gate Bridge (you can see the debris in the photo above). Here’s a closer look at the result from later that afternoon:
This is what the path looks like before the asphalt is set down. This is further south along Shore Blvd, near the bocce court:
This is all part of installing a bike lane in the park as part of the Queens East River & North Shore Greenway. In 2006 the Department of City Planning put together a Greenway Master Plan, and the route made its way through Astoria Park. Originally, the bike lanes/greenway was going to be a shared path following the walking path that through the park, underneath the Hell Gate Bridge. That did not go over well with local residents, as they know that there is a steep hill as part of that path, which would make it a pretty big challenge – especially for someone who is not very strong – to traverse that incline.
Here is what the original plan looked like:
Image source: NYC DCP
Note how the red line (the greenway) moves into Astoria Park in between the Triborough (RFK) and the Hell Gate Bridges.
Eventually the powers that be changed their minds and decided to run the bike path/greenway right along Shore Blvd, which is flat. Ease of use is improved because the incline is no longer an issue.
As we mentioned, they are still breaking up concrete in the northern stretch of Shore Blvd along the park, but the southern stretch, starting a little ways past the Triborough (RFK) Bridge, has been paved and preliminary bike stencils have been applied. It’s a two way bike lane and goes all the way to Astoria Park South.
We expect cyclists will enjoy this new path very much. It is protected by being raised slightly higher than the road and it has a visual barrier of grass (which is growing quite steadily – you can see it in the distance in the photo above). Also, it looks like there are holes where bollards will be inserted, between the bike lane and the road.
We look forward to seeing the greenway completed in Astoria Park and how cyclists like it. This is a nice new addition to the park.
I’m a little surprised that the NYCEDC didn’t take the opportunity to solve the chronic flooding problem that occurs along the park due to poor drainage – the street literally floods and the bottom of the park resembles a swamp after it rains. They’ve already ripped up the sidewalks and excavated – putting in better drainage wouldn’t have taken that much effort and would have been a big boon to the park and it’s users.
Are there any updates on this project as work seems to have stalled. For the past month nothing has happened. The plastic fencing is frayed and falling down, garbage is collecting in between and the access to the park is blocked from the street.. Any ideas on when they’ll resume work? Repeated calls to NYCEDC have received no response.
I’m confused—where exactly does the currently-paved bike path begin and end?
Thanks for clarifying!