Northern Boulevard Still Missing Roadway Markings On Stretch Repaved In December
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The street markings are missing along a stretch of Northern Boulevard in Flushing.
A repaving project was completed in December.
Local elected officials and residents are calling on the Department of Transportation to put paint on the pavement.
There's more than the usual honking and confusion on Northern Boulevard in Flushing, CBS2's Dave Carlin reported.
Drivers swerving on 1.5 miles of this busy thoroughfare between 156 Street and Prince Street, not committing to one lane of travel because there isn't one to pick from. Street markings don't exist along this entire stretch.
"It can cause some accidents," one driver told Carlin.
No division on lanes, and nothing to outline pedestrian crossings.
"This is ridiculous, honestly," one pedestrian said. "They need to put some lines down."
"They keep cutting in front of the bus," one driver said.
Bus drivers who have to use Northern Boulevard every workday all day long call it a nightmare.
"DOT dropped the ball on this. Because this is more than a month, two months, this has been without lines," the bus driver said.
"Dangerous. We have so many buses using this route," said City Council member Peter Koo.
Koo says resurfacing began last fall but experienced major delays. He says that's when his back-and-forth communications with the DOT on this issue began.
"We are in constant contact with DOT," Koo said.
He showed Carlin a letter where he asked for the markings back in December.
He was told by the DOT because the project finished later than expected, the weather turned cold, and permanent street markings would have to wait until spring.
Some people in the area suggest they should come out here and do it themselves, put paint to pavement. The department of transportation says is not that simple.
The permanent markings are made of "thermoplastic" that can peel off when the weather is too cold. In early January the DOT put down temporary markings, but that paint wore off quickly and now it's back, to bare.
We heard back from a DOT spokesman late Friday who promised another round of temporary markings will go on Northern Boulevard next week, weather permitting.
