Queens Boulevard: Difference between revisions

==History==

=== Early history ===

The route of today's Queens Boulevard originally consisted of Hoffman Boulevard and Thompson Avenue,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=852017&imageID=1527280&total=541&num=20&word=Long%20Island%20%28N%2EY%2E%29&s=3&notword=&d=&c=&f=2&k=0&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&imgs=20&pos=39&e=w | title=Town of Newtown, Queens County. Long Island - Woodside | year=1873 | access-date=April 19, 2011 | quote=shows Thompson Ave. on south border of map}}</ref> which was created by linking and expanding these already-existing streets, stubs of which still exist. A remnant of the old Hoffman Boulevard can be found in Forest Hills where the local lanes of traffic diverge into two routes, one straight and one that bends around MacDonald Park. The part that bends around the park was the original route of Hoffman Boulevard. The street was built in the early 20th century to connect the new [[Queensboro Bridge]] to central Queens, thereby offering an easy outlet from Manhattan.

 

=== 1960s ===

In 1960, [[Queens Borough president]] [[John T. Clancy]] proposed reconstructing the entire seven-mile boulevard to meet traffic demand from the [[1964 New York World's Fair]] for $17.1 million. Due to bureaucratic issues and the need to finance the project using city funds, the project was delayed and cut back to a 2.5 mile section for $2.6 million. Underpasses at Union Turnpike and at Grand Avenue—Broadway were dropped from the plan. On September 3, 1964, the Department of Highways announced that the project was far behind the project's original schedule. Only $2.6 million for the central section of the project was approved as rebuilding more than a mile of the road a time was deemed to be too disruptive for travel. At the time, the rebuilding of the first 1-mile section from 70th Avenue to Union Turnpike was completed.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1964-09-04|title=Money Woes Slow Queens Blvd. Job; Far Behind Original Target, Central Section Rebuilding Now Proceeds Smoothly|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/04/archives/money-woes-slow-queens-blvd-job-far-behind-original-target-central.html|access-date=2021-12-27|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

 

The six service road loans were resurfaced, yellow asphalt surfacing was installed to guide drivers turning at intersections, and malls were narrowed to widen the roadway and provide space for cars turning off the central six-lane roadway. Work on the 63rd Drive to 70th Avenue section was 70 percent complete, and the Department of Highways expected to request the release of $400,000 for the section to Woodhaven Boulevard within two weeks. Work on that section was expected to start in 1965. Queens Boulevard handled more than 85,000 vehicles a day, making it the second busiest roadway in the city, after the Long Island Expressway, which handled 125,000 vehicles a day.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1964-09-04|title=Money Woes Slow Queens Blvd. Job; Far Behind Original Target, Central Section Rebuilding Now Proceeds Smoothly|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/04/archives/money-woes-slow-queens-blvd-job-far-behind-original-target-central.html|access-date=2021-12-27|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>