A 4.3 mile stretch on Northern Boulevard–between 30th Road and 114th Street– was designated a slow zone in 2014 (Photo: DOT)
Sept. 1, 2020 By Christian Murray
The city is reducing the speed limit on a 7 mile stretch of Northern Boulevard from 30 MPH to 25 MPH.
The DOT, as part of an announcement to lower the speed limit on nine city streets, is lowering the limit on Northern Boulevard from 114th Street in Corona to Glenwood Street on the Nassau County border. The reduction aims to combat reckless driving that has become prevalent since the streets emptied during the height of the pandemic.
The city had already lowered the limit—from 30 MPH to 25 MPH on a 4.3 mile stretch on Northern Boulevard in 2014. That stretch is between 30th Road in Long Island City and 114th Street in Corona. That section of Northern Boulevard was one of several roadways the city declared an “arterial speed zone” in 2014– following a number of fatalities.
The DOT announced today that it was reducing the speed limit on nine city streets.
There are two in Queens, with one being the 7 mile stretch on Northern Boulevard and the other a 2.5 mile section on Rockaway Boulevard—from 150th Ave to 3rd Street (Nassau County border)—where it will be lowered from 40 MPH to 35 MPH.
The limit is being dropped to 25 MPH in parts of Riverside Drive in Manhattan, Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn and Bruckner Boulevard in the Bronx.
The limit will also drop to 25 MPH on Shore Parkway Service Road and Dahlgren Place in Brooklyn, Webster Avenue in the Bronx and Targee Street in Staten Island.
“New York City’s children deserve safe, livable communities – and Vision Zero’s groundbreaking work will protect them in their streets,” Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today. “Slower speed limits, speed cameras, and increased enforcement will save lives and keep New York City the safest big city in America for the next generation.”
The City also announced today that the Department of Transportation (DOT) has reached its goal of installing and activating speed cameras in all 750 school zones – the largest speed camera network in the world.
The installation began in 2019 after Albany passed legislation allowing them to go up in all school zones. The new law permits the city to keep them in operation on all weekdays between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. including during school vacations.
Motorist found to be going more than 10 miles per hour above the speed limit in a school zone will be hit with a $50 ticket.
The first of hundreds of new school zone speed cameras was installed on the Upper West Side in May 2019 (NYC Mayor’s Office)
