By Christina Santucci
A northeast Queens lawmaker is pushing for North Flushing residents to receive better and safer bus service through the extension of a bus route, but he says a lack of funding is standing in the way of an adjustment to the line.
State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) joined with several neighbors Saturday to urge the agency to move the final stop of the Q34 bus further east from 149th Street to Francis Lewis Boulevard and called the potential relocation a solution to a dangerous situation.
However, NYC Transit President Carmen Bianco wrote in a letter to Avella that the MTA does not have funds to adjust the route. A spokeswoman for the MTA said Wednesday that right now there are no plans to move the end of the route.
Avella and residents rallied on 25th Avenue and 149th Street Saturday to push the agency to come up with the funds, and the senator said they will also be starting a petition for the extension to be implemented.
“This has been a huge safety issue,” Avella said, pointing to the entrance of a playground within Flushing Memorial Fields, directly in front of the bus layout location. He said a child leaving the park was struck by a vehicle after passing between idling buses in 2010.
“You could have as many as three or four buses here,” he said.
Residents, who joined the senator, also complained that after leaving the stop buses then drive eastbound on 25th Avenue, a narrow two-way thoroughfare, before turning left onto 150th Street.
“It’s just so obvious that this bus shouldn’t be on this street,” said Long Wong, who has lived in the area for the past 27 years.
“I personally had to move my car onto the sidewalk,” said Samantha Dell, who said she has been helping to lobby for the change for the past three years. “There is just no room.”
The MTA spokeswoman said the agency’s Queens North Road Operations unit has observed the location eight times since Sept. 25 in response to complains about bus idling and found operators to be in compliance with their orders.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and take corrective action when necessary,” the spokeswoman said.
Avella said he and residents had complained to the MTA about the Q34 layover when it was on Willets Point Boulevard, and the agency then moved the stop one block to the south to 25th Avenue several years ago.
“For the life of me, I can’t understand why they made a bad situation worse,” he said.
Residents said the 0.8-mile extension would bring the added benefit of greater accessibility to both spots, and Dell said she and neighbors currently need to use two buses to reach Willets Point and Francis Lewis boulevards.
“If you have to take two buses, you are not going to go all the way to Francis Lewis,” she said.
Reach managing editor Christina Santucci by e-mail at timesledgerphotos@gmail.com by phone at 718-260-4589.
