Greenway Master Plan: Conduit . Southern Queens . Laurelton
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Manhattan Greenway Master Plan Conduit ♦ Southern Queens ♦ Laurelton ♦ Cross Island City of New York Queens Department of City Planning City of New York Parks & Recreation July 2000 Brooklyn GREENWAY MASTER PLAN CONDUIT - SOUTHERN QUEENS - LAURELTON - CROSS ISLAND Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mayor Joseph B. Rose, Director City of New York, Department of City Planning Henry J. Stern, Commissioner City of New York, Parks & Recreation July 2000 Greenway Master Plan: Conduit . Southern Queens . Laurelton . Cross Island City of New York/Department of City Planning . City of New York/Parks & Recreation Table of Contents Introduction I New York City Greenway System II Belt Parkway III Master Plan Organization IV Schematic Design Conduit Greenway 1 Segment One (Vermont Place to Liberty Avenue) 2 Segment Two (Conduit Boulevard) 6 Southern Queens Greenway - Route Description 9 Segment Three (Cross Bay Boulevard to 114th Street) 10 Segment Four (114th Street to Van Wyck Expressway, on-street) 13 Segment Four (114th Street to Van Wyck Expressway, off-street) 15 Segment Five (Van Wyck Expressway to Farmers Boulevard) 17 Segment Six (Farmers Boulevard to Brookville Boulevard, on-street) 19 Segment Six (Farmers Boulevard to Brookville Boulevard, off-street) 21 Segment Seven (Springfield - Idlewild - Brookville Park Loop) 23 Laurelton Greenway 25 Segment Eight (Laurelton Parkway) 26 Cross Island Greenway 28 Segment Nine (118th Avenue to 104th Avenue) 29 Segment Ten (222nd Street to Hillside Avenue) 31 Segment Eleven (Creedmoor to Alley Pond Park) 33 Segment Twelve (Alley Pond Park - Marina) 36 Segment Thirteen (Joe Michael’s Mile/Marina - Utopia Parkway) 28 Design Guidelines On-Street Bicycle Route 40 Off-Street Multi-Use Path 41 Construction Phasing Plan 44 Credits 46 Table of Contents Greenway Master Plan: Conduit . Southern Queens . Laurelton . Cross Island City of New York/Department of City Planning . City of New York/Parks & Recreation Introduction The Conduit, Southern Queens, Laurelton and Cross review these documents. The Conduit, Southern Queens Island Greenways will provide a continuous, 32 mile Laurelton and Cross Island Greenway Master Plan route for cyclists, walkers, in-line skaters and joggers, (Plan) will serve as the guide for the implementation of following portions of the Belt Parkway and connecting the Greenways. The Plan presents the schematic design some of the most scenic and significant destinations in for the route, proposes Greenway design guidelines, and eastern Brooklyn and southern and eastern Queens. identifies an overall construction cost estimate and C l e Recreation and non-motorized transportation phasing plan. a r v opportunities will increase substantially with a safe and i e scenic route, connecting such beautiful parks as The complete construction of the four Greenways will w E x Highland, Brookville and Alley Pond Parks, and cost approximately $25 million. However, it is expected p r e providing improved access to spectacular waterfront that the Greenway construction will be phased in over a s s w vistas and major employment destinations, such as John a number of years and, given the proposed route's y F. Kennedy International Airport, Creedmoor alignment along existing streets, and adjacent to major Psychiatric Center and Queensboro Community College. parkways, should be included in future capital The Greenways in this Plan represent a major portion of construction, thereby minimizing the need to seek Long Island Expressway the city's Greenway system (see page 2), and connect separate funding. With the implementation of these four C with some of the city's most popular, existing multi-use safe and scenic Greenways, the residents of Brooklyn r y o a s w paths, including Joe Michael's Mile along Little Neck and Queens will be provided with increased k s r Pa Bay, the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway in eastern Queens, opportunities for recreation, the restoration of Cent r al I and s and the Shore Parkway bicycle path in Queens and underutilized parkland, and more flexible and Gr l a n Brooklyn. Portions of the original pedestrian paths, built environmentally sound means of travel to work or for d in 1940 in conjunction with the construction of the Belt running errands. G r e Parkway, still exist in various states of repair. Where e n appropriate, this Plan proposes the revitalization of w a these paths to reclaim the original vision of the Belt y Parkway as a scenic, landscaped corridor to be used and Queens enjoyed by both motorized and non-motorized transportation. The New York City Departments of City Planning (DCP) Van Wyck Expressway y a and Parks & Recreation (DPR) began this planning and C w o n n schematic design study in the summer of 1996 with d e u e funding provided by the federal 1991 Intermodal Surface i t r Gr G ee n Transportation Efficiency Act's Enhancement Program. nw o ay t In consultation with an advisory committee composed of l e r the local community boards, council members, Queens u t her n Queens Gr eenwa a and Brooklyn Borough Presidents and representatives S ou y L from City and State agencies, the Project Team Nassau Expressway completed the following: an Existing Conditions Brooklyn Report; a Conceptual Plan, which identified route destinations and route alignments; and a Schematic Design, which proposed design types for the identified route. Three advisory committee meetings were held to Shore Parkway Introduction Page I Greenway Master Plan: Conduit . Southern Queens . Laurelton . Cross Island City of New York/Department of City Planning . City of New York/Parks & Recreation New York City Greenway System New York City has embarked on a historic effort to * Increases the value of property adjacent to once idle ã develop a 350 mile city-wide Greenway System. A land and spurs private enterprises, including bicycle ã ã ã ã ã Greenway is identified as a pathway along natural and repair and rental shops, food establishments and other Legend manmade linear spaces such as rail and highway rights- services. Hudson ã Long River Island Priority Greenway Routes of-way, river corridors, waterfront spaces, parklands Sound and, where necessary, city streets. Identified in 1993 in * Connects neighborhood to neighborhood, borough to Borough Boundary DCP's A Greenway Plan for New York City, the borough, and city to suburb, offering a new kind of public ã The Greenways are "at once the parks for the 21st Century and place, bringing together the young and old, rich and poor, Bronx a part of the transportation infrastructure, providing for and people from diverse cultural backgounds. pleasant, efficient, healthful and environmentally-sound travel by foot, bicycle or skates." Since the release of the Greenways have played an important role in the history of plan in 1993, the City has received over $61 million in open space development in New York City. Frederick Manhattan federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Law Olmsted, landscape architect of Central and Act (ISTEA) funding for the planning, design and Prospect Parks, designed "park ways" for scenic carriage drives and bicycles in the late 19th century. Eastern and construction of the System. New Ocean Parkways were planned by Olmsted as boulevards Jersey Brooklyn-Queens Greenways can serve a host of functions, providing the connecting Brooklyn's Prospect Park with its Greenway Cross following health, recreation, transportation and surrounding communities and the beaches and regional Island Greenway community development benefits: spaces beyond. In the 1930s, NYS Parks Commissioner Brooklyn-Queens Queens Robert Moses built miles of pedestrian paths and Greenway * Increases opportunities to explore the city's esplanades in new parks, notably Riverside and East Conduit Laurelton Greenway Greenway surprisingly diverse natural environment. River Parks. Moses also built pedestrian and bicycle Southern Queens Greenway paths along new parkways, including the Laurelton, Shore Rockaway ã Parkway Gateway ã Greenway ã Path * Provides a place to enjoy the sun, breeze or waterfront Southern and Shore Parkways, to satisfy the "groups, Brooklyn views and to exercise or relax. organizations and individuals ... clamoring and petitioning for bicycle tracks". The development of the * Expands transportation options by offering a more New York City Greenway System represents a flexible and environmentally sound means of travel to continuation of, and expansion upon, that strong and ã work or other destinations. historically progressive tradition. * Reduces traffic congestion and improves air quality by Staten Island Lower providing non-motorized transportation facilities. New York Atlantic Ocean Bay ã N 8 / 95 NYC Department of City Planning Schematic Greenway System, 1993 5 MILES Page II Greenway Plan Greenway Master Plan: Conduit . Southern Queens . Laurelton . Cross Island City of New York/Department of City Planning . City of New York/Parks & Recreation Belt Parkway - "A narrow shoestring park running around the entire city and including all sorts of recreational facilities" ... Robert Moses, Parks Commissioner Opened on June 26, 1940, the Belt Parkway was According to Moses, landscaped parkways would waterfront bicycle paths were built along The lack of maintenance and, as automotive traffic has developed by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses provide for a smooth flow of traffic and act as "great Narrows, Jamaica Bay and Little Bay Park. Conduit increased, the intrusion of more recent parkway on as part of a landscaped parkway system encircling neighborhood assets ... especially when provision Boulevard, as it exists today, was developed two and off-ramps. The Conduit-Southern Queens- New York City and connecting with the newly built is made for neighborhood playgrounds and for years after the opening of the Belt to provide a Laurelton-Cross Island Greenway Master Plan parkways in Westchester and Long Island. walks along these parkways so that they can be connection between the Belt and Atlantic Avenue, seeks to revitalize the original Moses mission of a Originally called the Circumferential Parkway enjoyed by local residents and pedestrians as well one of Brooklyn's major arterials.