Forest Hills Residents Urge City To Make Union Turnpike Safer

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Forest Hills residents are urging city transportation officials to remedy longstanding safety concerns along Union Turnpike, where neighbors say speeding drivers and hazardous roadway conditions pose a danger to those trying to access Forest Park.

Queens Community Board 6's transportation committee is leading the charge to get the New York City Department of Transportation to study possible improvements along the roadway.

Committee members said drivers go well above the Union Turnpike's 25 mph speed limit, turning the road into a de facto highway.

That has worried residents north of Forest Park, who have to cross Union Turnpike to get to the park.

"This heavily utilized thoroughfare generates significant traffic safety concerns that require DOT's ongoing priority attention," Queens Community Board 6 wrote in its 2021 statement of district needs.

Members suggested adding pedestrian safety measures at Union Turnpike and 71st Avenue, an intersection many families use to get to a popular playground, as well as barriers, speed bumps, speed cameras and "aggressive" enforcement of traffic rules.

Fears of dangerous crashes are not unfounded: In 2019, Union Turnpike saw 168 reported crashes that injured at least 50 people, according to Streetsblog New York.

In a virtual meeting last week, the board's transportation committee voted to send a formal traffic-study request to the Department of Transportation, Streetsblog reported.

The committee outlined all Union Turnpike's issues in a presentation, which members shared with Forest Hills Patch.

Among the issues are failing drains and collapsed curbs that make biking along Union Turnpike difficult — a situation further magnified by the roadway's lack of a protected bike lane, according to the committee's presentation.

In response to the Streetsblog article, a Department of Transportation spokesperson said only that the agency would review the requests.