By Kathianne Boniello
The anonymous flier – titled “What you may not have been told about the Long Island Expressway-HOV project” – accuses state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose), Community Board 11 Chairman Bernard Haber, and the Douglaston Civic Association of “an active and concerted effort to misinform” people about the project.
The $112 million project, which was tentatively slated to begin around Sept. 1, was conceived as an alternative plan by the state when northeast Queens residents protested the idea of widening the LIE for High Occupancy Vehicle lanes in 1996.
The project to reshape the interchange between the LIE and the parkway began last month and will include: the permanent shutdown of the Douglaston Parkway exit on the LIE; the buildup of West Alley Road to handle traffic that would have used Exit 31; and the addition of 12 acres of park land to Alley Pond Park.
The project coincides with the state's effort to extend the HOV lanes on the LIE throughout Long Island and into Queens. While the HOV lanes will terminate at the county line, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation told the Times/Ledger in September that a half-mile-long exit ramp would be created at the city line to handle the additional traffic.
No one has claimed direct responsibility for the flier, which also accuses Padavan and CB 11 of “a series of factual misstatements” and the Douglaston Civic Association of “advancing a covert agenda of politicians.”
Padavan, one of the main architects of the project, said the flier was “nonsense. It's erroneous – it's a personal viewpoint of someone who has a myopic viewpoint as to what's going on.”
Elliott Socci, president of the Douglaston Civic Association, said there were “many misleading statements” in the flier. Haber could not be reached for comment as of presstime Tuesday.
Gary Rosenthal, a northeast Queens resident who has had vocal opposition to the LIE-Cross Island Parkway project, did not claim direct responsibility for the flier but said: “I know where it was put together.”
While Socci said: “I wouldn't expect anybody to be happy about this project,” he emphasized that the Douglaston Civic Association actively opposed the closing of the eastbound Exit 31 on the Long Island Expressway.
“No one from our civic association requested that those exits be closed,” he said. The group was slated to hold a meeting this week to discuss the project with representatives of the state DOT.
Padavan emphasized that the elimination of the entrance-exit ramps to the Douglaston Parkway exit would make traffic flow better on the LIE because they would be replaced with a direct lane to the exit. In addition, Padavan said West Alley Road was being widened by eliminating a portion of the large sidewalk on the road, not by taking away parkland.
Socci said the flier was something that people “should not pay much mind.”
Padavan urged residents concerned with the project to contact the state DOT's community outreach number at 718-997-0918 or CB 11 at 718-225-1054.
