Everything about Queens Boulevard totally explained
Queens Boulevard is a major thoroughfare in the
New York City borough of
Queens, forming part of
New York State Route 25.
Location
It runs northwest to southeast across more than half the length of the borough, starting at the
Queensboro Bridge in
Long Island City and running through the neighborhoods of
Sunnyside,
Woodside,
Elmhurst,
Rego Park,
Forest Hills,
Kew Gardens, and
Briarwood before terminating at
Jamaica Avenue in
Jamaica. At 7.2 miles, it's the one of the longest roads in Queens, and it runs through some of Queens' busiest areas. Much of the road is 12 lanes wide, and at its intersection with Yellowstone Boulevard in
Forest Hills, it reaches a high point of 16 lanes. Along much of its length, the road includes both six express lanes (three in each direction) and a service road on each side. Drivers must first exit to the service road in order to make right turns or pull over; left turns must be made from the express lanes, but only at select cross-streets.
This street hosts one of the highest numbers of
New York City Subway services in the city. At any one time, five services—the,,,,, and the —all use significant stretches of the right of way; only
Broadway (nine services),
Sixth Avenue (seven), and
Seventh Avenue (seven) in
Manhattan and
Fulton Street (eight) and
Flatbush Avenue (six) in
Brooklyn carry more at any one time. In addition, the
Q60 bus travels its entire length.
History
Queens Boulevard was built in the early 20th century to connect the new
Queensboro Bridge to central Queens, thereby offering an easy outlet from Manhattan. It was created by linking and expanding already-existing streets, such as Thomson Avenue and Hoffman Boulevard, stubs of which still exist. It was widened along with the digging of the
IND Queens Boulevard Line subway tunnels in the 1920s and 1930s, and some speculated the plan was to transform it into a
freeway, as was done with the
Van Wyck Expressway. The city actually did propose converting it in 1941, but with the onset of
World War II, the plan was never completed.
The combination of Queens Boulevard's immense width, heavy automobile traffic, and thriving commercial scene made it the most dangerous thoroughfare in New York City and earned it citywide notoriety and morbid nicknames such as "The Boulevard of Death" and "The Boulevard of Broken Bones." From 1993 to 2000, 72 pedestrians were killed trying to cross the street, an average of 10.2 per year, with countless more injuries. Since 2001, at least partially in response to major news coverage of the danger, the city government has taken measures to cut down on such incidents, including posting large signs proclaiming that "A Pedestrian Was Killed Crossing Here" at intersections where fatal accidents have occurred and installing more
road-rule enforcement cameras. These efforts appeared to be successful; during all of 2004, only one pedestrian was killed while trying to cross Queens Boulevard.
(External Link
)
Because of its name, density, accessibility, and diverse, multicultural character, the road has come to be somewhat emblematic of
Queens in general.
Trivia
- Queens Boulevard is the name of a fictional movie starring Vincent Chase within the world of the television show Entourage.
- Queens Boulevard is the name of a local band out of Annapolis, Maryland. (External Link)
- Queens Boulevard (the musical) is the name of a musical by playwright Charles Mee. (External Link)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Queens Boulevard'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://queens_boulevard.totallyexplained.com">Queens Boulevard Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
