Congestion Pricing Could Bring More Parking To Bd. 1
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

For decades, Community Board 1 has sought parking over the Grand Central Parkway near 31st Street as one of its budget priorities. Now, it may also be one of the recommendations Borough President Helen Marshall makes, as she seeks input from community boards for the borough's top priorities to the commission on congestion pricing.

"The borough president wants suggestions from us regarding congestion pricing," said Robert Piazza, chair of the board's transportation committee at the September 18 meeting. The board's answer, said Piazza: "Parking. We want parking."

With Community Board 1 a prime drop-off point for the cars of Manhattan-bound commuters looking to evade the $8 congestion pricing fee, Piazza said a parking deck over the GCP may finally be an idea whose time has come.

Antonio Meloni, chair of the board Public Safety Committee, said he believes congestion pricing "will inordinately and directly affect our neighborhood".

Marshall, speaking at the September Queens Borough Board meeting, said she is also concerned about "people parking in our communities" and has offered the following top priorities for the borough, regardless of whether there is congestion pricing or not:

1. Reopen strategic LIRR stations in Queens. Marshall said that Mayor Michael Bloomberg has agreed to her first priority, the Elmhurst station, as well as the Corona station.

2. Increase LIRR stop frequency at Main Street in Flushing and Woodside as immediate measures.

3. Add tandem articulated buses on main thoroughfares such as Queens and Northern Boulevards wherever possible.

4. Lengthen subway platforms to accommodate additional subway cars.

5. Target new Traffic Enforcement Agents to major transportation hubs including Main Street in Flushing, Sutphin Boulevard and Archer Avenue in Jamaica and at the Queensboro Bridge.

6. Retire non-clean air buses.

7. Add new express bus routes to underserved areas.

8. Add new local bus routes and buses, particularly in Eastern Queens.

"These are the things that Queens needs," Marshall said.

Community boards, regardless of their position on congestion pricing, have been asked by the borough president to offer their recommendations, to be forwarded to the New York City Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission by September 30.

The federal Department of Transportation is dangling $354 million before New York City if it adopts a congestion pricing plan approved by the city and state. The money is to go towards improving the city's mass transit system, creation of new bus facilities and bus rapid transit routes and would also include pedestrian and traffic signal improvements and ferry service improvements, and $10.4 million to help implement the plan.

According to the latest American Community Survey, released two weeks ago by the U.S. Census Bureau, New York state has the longest travel time to work, with a mean commute for workers age 16 and older of 30.9 minutes.