DOT proposal image for 31st Street, showcasing protected bicycle lanes and floating parking spaces. Via Change.org
April 9, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
More than 2,000 people have signed an online petition calling on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to scrap a proposed bike lane underneath the elevated N/W subway tracks on 31st Street in Astoria, arguing that a bike lane would pose significant safety risks for road users while causing “irreversible” harm to local businesses.
The petition, launched Monday by the “31st Street Businesses and Citizens against the 31st Street Protected Bike Lane System,” collected more than 1,000 signatures in its first 12 hours.
The petition opposes the DOT’s plans for a protected bike lane along 31st Street from 36th Avenue to Newtown Avenue, which would install eight-foot-wide bike lanes on either side of the street underneath the elevated subway structure.
Currently, 31st Street has two 14-foot-wide “moving lanes” inside the 3-foot-wide columns supporting the elevated tracks and two 13-foot-wide parking lanes outside the columns.
The plan would reduce the width of the moving lanes by three feet in both directions and the width of the parking lanes from 13 feet to 8 feet. The parking lanes would also be relocated from curbside parking to level with the supporting columns, while a 3-foot-wide buffer zone would separate parked cars from the protected bike lanes.
Renderings for proposed bike lanes along 31st Street compared to the current layout of the corridor. Photo: DOT
The DOT also plans to add painted pedestrian islands at intersections to shorten pedestrian crossing distances. The plan additionally bans parking at corners to boost visibility.
The DOT argues that protected bike lanes are a necessary step toward reducing serious injuries and fatalities along 31st Street, stating that there were two traffic deaths and 11 serious injuries recorded along the street between 2020 and 2024.
The mile-long stretch of 31st Street covered by the new bike lane plan is among the most dangerous roads in Queens, according to DOT data, with a total of 178 injuries recorded on the corridor over the four-year period. DOT data cites “multiple instances” of cyclists getting “doored” – referring to when a cyclist collides with a car door that has been opened in their path – while over 30% of pedestrian injuries have been caused by left-turn crashes.
Construction of the protected bike lanes is due to begin in the summer.
However, a number of local businesses and residents argue that the proposed bike lanes will disrupt local businesses, making it more difficult for businesses to take deliveries. They also argue that the proposed bike lanes will force King Souvlaki, a “neighborhood staple” food truck that has served Astoria since 1976, to relocate.
King Souvlaki, a neighborhood staple located on the corner of 31st Street and 31st Avenue since 1976 would be forced to leave if the protected bicycle lanes are installed. Via Change.org
Critics of the proposal also state that construction of the bike lanes will impact foot traffic along 31st Street “for months” and worsen the “existing parking shortage in the area.”
Critics also noted that there are existing north/south bike lanes on nearby Crescent Street, which is described as a “far less congested” corridor.
More than a dozen local businesses have endorsed the petition, including Sotta La Luna, Under Pressure Coffee and Sala Astoria. St. Demetrios Church and School has also outlined its opposition to the bike lanes, stating that protected bike lanes will cause havoc for parents dropping children off at school.
Stella Tsikis, an administrator at St. Demetrios, believes that the addition of a bike lane will make it more dangerous for students crossing the street to get to school. She also said the bike lanes would impact St. Demetrios’ annual festival,
“It will also affect our festival,” Tsikis said. “It’s one of our biggest fundraisers. We use the street on that side for carts and gates and stuff like that.
“The streets are used a lot for our school parking. It’s a very busy area.”
Tsikis said there are three other public schools in the vicinity and added that the addition of bike lanes would “100%” increase traffic and congestion in the area.
DOT mock-up proposal of 31st Street, overhead view, showcasing the proposed street redesign of the intersection of Broadway and 31st Street (overhead subway tracks omitted). Via Change.org
DOT officials rebutted the petition’s “baseless claims,” stating that the proposal is a direct result of the Western Queens Street Safety Plan developed by local elected officials. Officials also stated that the DOT continues to conduct outreach on all levels to help ensure that local businesses can load goods and receive deliveries.
“Our proposal will better organize traffic on 31st Street, where multiple people have been seriously injured or lost their lives in recent years, to improve safety for everyone while keeping vehicles moving,” a DOT spokesperson said. “This redesign would maintain the existing number of travel and parking lanes—with research showing designs like these successfully improve safety and support local businesses.”
DOT officials additionally stated that existing food trucks on 31st Street would be able to use a “floating parking lane” outlined in the proposal, which would allow them to operate similarly to how they are currently utilizing curbside space.
Officials further pointed to a recent analysis that found that businesses on Skillman Avenue reported a 12% in sales revenue following the installation of protected bike lanes along the corridor. They also noted DOT studies stating that protected bike lanes reduce deaths and injuries for all road users by 16.1%, for pedestrians by 29.2%, and for senior-aged pedestrians by 39%.
Meanwhile, CJ Bretillon, co-chair of the Western Queens Volunteer Committee with Transportation Alternatives, said she is “very much in favor” of the proposed bike lane. She stated that there are insufficient north/south routes running through Astoria at present. She said cyclists are forced to cycle several blocks to reach the Crescent Street bike lane, which is not always feasible.
Bretillon has cycled on 31st Street numerous times, stating that she has “regretted” her decision to bike the corridor on each occasion.
“Nobody should have to put their life in a driver’s hand just to just to get somewhere,” Bretillon said.
Bretillon said she is “excited” by the protected bike lane proposal and argued that it could go even further by including curb-protected bike lanes rather than the parking-protected lanes currently proposed. She also said the bike lane could stretch from Ditmars Boulevard to Queens Boulevard, which could connect with several other biking routes and allow cyclists to safely reach numerous destinations in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.
“So many people bike now and you shouldn’t have to travel 10 streets out of your way just to get to Vernon Boulevard or to Crescent Street,” Bretillon said. “I think something central is necessary.”
She also dismissed concerns that a bike lane would inhibit local businesses from accepting deliveries, stating that several existing routes facilitate deliveries and drop-offs.
Meanwhile, DOT officials said the agency focused on the stretch of 31st Street between 36th Avenue and Newtown Avenue based on data suggesting that a concentration of crashes involving deaths and serious injuries took place in that mile-long stretch. They also argued that the proposed route links with several east/west protected bike lanes at 31st Avenue, 34th Avenue and 36th Avenue.
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5 Comments
I am a strong supporter of the bike lane. None of these arguments trump safety, in my opinion. Furthermore, bike lanes have actually been shown to be good for local business! Props to Astoria Post for great reporting, btw.
Oh no King Souvlaki might have to park 2 feet around the corner! How will people ever find them!
31st St in Astoria is the latest front in NYC politician’s war on vehicle ownership. They have spent the last fifteen years doing everything in their power – the plethora of bike lanes, taking away parking spots, Congestion Pricing, Open Streets, etc. – to make it as miserable as possible to drive in NYC. If the politicians want to make the streets safer, how about hiring more police to enforce speeding and running red lights, which are worse now than anytime in my memory.
I’ve lived on Skillman Ave over forty years. I never saw a traffic jam on Skillman before the installation of the bike lane. Now there are traffic jams constantly during arrival and dismissal time at PS 11 – thanks entirely to the bike lane. It would be interesting to know how much is budgeted annually to create these bike lanes. Surely that scarce taxpayer money could be spent more wisely.
31Ave has such improved so much, safety wise, where the bike lane has been implemented. So nice to see initiatives that promote pedestrian safety, walking and bicycling. We are becoming a bit like the Europeans :). Well done DOT!
Where’s the petition to sign to put it in? Bike lanes make cities safer. Cars kill.