This is from Maura McCarthy, DOT:

I am following up on the implementation of the Maspeth By-Pass project.  Following briefings in your offices and meetings at the Community Boards, we incorporated many suggestions into our final plans and received approval to proceed from the Community Boards.  AS you know, we distributed flyers to the businesses along the corridor these past two weeks. 

Attached is a copy of the last presentation detailing the plans.  We have already installed many of the curbside regulations.  Road work was completed on Thursday night with the elimination of the concrete island, relocation of a smaller island which will hold a stop sign and resurfacing of the 5-legged intersection. We will be converting the following streets to a one-way direction tomorrow:

•     58th Street - converted to one-way SB between 55th Drive and Maspeth Avenue (the five leg intersection).  This is within CB 2.

•     Maurice Avenue - converted to one-way NB between Maspeth Avenue (the five leg intersection) and 55th Drive. This is within CB 5.

•     59th Street - converted to one-way SB between 55th Drive/Maurice Avenue and 56th Avenue. (Within CB 5)

Depending upon the weather, the line markings may go in tomorrow or on the next non-rain date. The multitude of signs that will be installed with continue throughout the month. 

I cannot thank you enough for all your help, feedback and input into this important project.  Please don't hesitate to call me if you have any questions.

Maura McCarthy
Queens Borough Commissioner
NYC Department of Transportation

See the email below with an update from the Clinton Diner, 56-26 Maspeth Avenue.  If you recall, the 104th arrested a perpetrator on Monday at about 1:00 am.  This incident occurred on Monday at 3:41 am and in this case it's suspected at least two perpetrators are involved.  These individuals are not only looking into breaking into vehicles, but businesses as well.  I'm sure they would have no problem breaking into a house.  Some of you may not live in Maspeth, but it can happen in your area too!
 
Please be alert, call 911 if you see anything suspicious, secure your home and don't leave property in your vehicle.  You can contact the Crime Prevention Officer at your precinct and ask for a free home/business security survey. Don't wait until you become a victim.  Please pass this on to friends/family.  If you have any info, contact the 104th Precinct.
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FYI

"We also had a break in at my parents Diner on Monday 3:41am and the perps stayed in the diner until 5:25AM.  After that one of them proceeded to try to break in 2 tractor trailers parked over night behind the diner, and woke up the driver who chased him away. A brief description of one of the guys is male hispanic 5'5"-5'7" tall, 155lbs thick black frame glasses, dark blue or black baseball hat, Medium to dark Bluish grey t shirt, blue jeans, dark color sneakers with white trim around edges, 6" wide tattoo on left fore arm with 2 stars on outer edges of tattoo and some writing in the middle. He entered through the roof."

DOT truck proposal riles Maspeth residents, Ridgewood Ledger
It's a positive project & doesn't cost a lot so 'it's a win-win,' says pol, Daily News
DOT presents Maspeth Bypass Proposal, Forum West
DOT Maspeth Bypass plan called 'good start', Queens Chronicle

Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together (COMET) will be holding a Special Meeting about the Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel Project on Tuesday, November 16th, 7:00 pm, at the Frank Kowalinski Post, 61-57 Maspeth Avenue.

The guest speakers will be representatives from the Port Authority who plan to discuss the latest version of the Cross Harbor initiative which would allow freight from other states to be brought into Queens by rail and then trucked from freight yards to their destinations throughout the City and Long Island.  The original proposal was to place a large intermodal rail-to-truck operation on the former Phelps Dodge site in West Maspeth.  The plan has now been altered in an attempt to minimize the impact on surrounding neighborhoods.  Communities expected to be adversely affected by the Cross Harbor Project include Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale, Sunnyside and Hunters Point.

The Cross Harbor initiative, or any part of it, will not only bring more truck traffic into our communities, but it will severely impact the already gridlocked Fresh Pond Terminal that is creating quality of life and environmental impacts for nearby homeowners.

Residents from Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale, Sunnyside and Long Island City are urged to attend this meeting.  Our communities are already overburdened with trucks and suffer the effects of pollution from the Long Island Expressway, Brooklyn Queens Expressway and traffic coming from Long Island.  We need a united voice on this issue to ensure the Port Authority hears us and chooses the option that will result in the best outcome for our neighborhoods.

From NY1:

When residents in Maspeth walk along Grand and Flushing Avenues, near the LIE, they make sure to look both ways before crossing and to look out for large trucks zipping through their neighborhood. 

“It’s very bad and very dangerous, too,” said one local woman.

That’s why the City’s Department of Transportation is changing the traffic pattern so that trucks can no longer take shortcuts to Brooklyn through these streets.  Trucks making local deliveries will be the only exception. 

A study conducted by the local community board in 2001 found that nearly 1000 large commercial trucks use Grand Avenue every day between 6am and 5pm.  If the proposal is approved at a public hearing within 2 months, the changes will go into effect immediately.  In the meantime, DOT is working on a more permanent solution.  By January, they are expected to announce design plans to build a bypass route along Maurice Avenue, through Maspeth’s Industrial Business Zone.

“I don’t know what they’re coming up with, it may be a series of one way streets, it may be a traffic circle,” said Assemblywoman Marge Markey (D-Maspeth). 

Others say the changes have taken too long to implement and that this plan will just move the problem somewhere else.

“They’re going to be wandering through our side streets, which they do now.  You know, truck drivers have this incredible habit if taking the path of least resistance, or the shortest route,” said Maspeth activist Manny Caruana.

“We’ve been fighting for 10 years to get these trucks off the commercial strips of Maspeth and Grand Avenue,” said Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association.

Elected officials point out that DOT is the agency responsible for implementing the changes.  A DOT spokesperson says that before making changes to the traffic pattern, they needed to study existing conditions, collect more data.

“Things don’t happen overnight even though we want them to happen overnight.  And I can understand the frustration,” said Congress Member Joseph Crowley (D-Queens/Bronx).

The permanent bypass project will also have to go through a public review process.  If approved, it could take several years to complete.