Northern Blvd Bike Lane Causes Car Crash Involving Special Needs Adults

Queens, NY – Yesterday afternoon, the commute home for a group of special needs adults took a scary turn when their school bus was involved in a crash because of difficulty exiting the Cross Island Parkway (CIP) caused by the Northern Boulevard bike lane.

This type of crash is exactly what Senator Avella and the community feared would happen when construction of the bike lane was rushed through two months ago in order to circumvent the Community Board. 

Senator Avella said, “Thankfully, no one was seriously injured in the crash but the number of crashes along Northern Boulevard since the bike lane’s installment have left community members worried that the next incident will not be so lucky.’

Following the incident, Senator Avella sent a letter to Mayor de Blasio and Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Polly Trottenberg asking, “How many accidents have to occur before you realize that this was not a good idea? Not only does this bike path reduce the amount of lanes for motorists, it forces drivers exiting the Cross Island Parkway and entering Northern Boulevard to stop short to see oncoming traffic, increasing the likelihood of crashes.”

Avella, community residents, and Community Board 11 still request that the Board’s bike lane plan be implemented and the current DOT bike lane be scrapped.