Early history The route of today's Queens Boulevard originally consisted of Hoffman Boulevard and Thompson Avenue, 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. In 1913, a
trolley line was constructed from 59th Street in Manhattan east along the new boulevard.
1930s–1950s: widening and subway construction During the 1920s and 1930s the boulevard was widened in conjunction with the digging of the
IND Queens Boulevard Line subway tunnels. The new subway line used cut-and-cover construction and trenches had to be dug up in the center of the thoroughfare, and to allow pedestrians to pass over the construction, temporary bridges were built. The improvement was between Van Dam Street and
Hillside Avenue, and it cost $2.23 million. The street was widened to between Van Dam Street and
Union Turnpike, and from there to Hillside Avenue it was widened to . As part of the project, there was to have been separated rights-of-way for the trolley line. On May 2, 1936, Queens Borough President
George U. Harvey cut the ribbon for the opening of the center roadway of the Boulevard at Seminole Avenue in Forest Hills. This widened section allowed drivers to access the Grand Central Parkway. This work was partially funded with aid from the
Works Progress Administration. $1,555,000 was initially allotted to this project. On April 17, 1937, trolley service along Queens Boulevard ended, being replaced by bus service. In the late 1930s, NY 25 was aligned to follow Queens Boulevard (NY 24) from Skillman Avenue to Horace Harding Boulevard, where NY 25 turned eastward to follow Horace Harding Boulevard back to its original alignment at Corona Avenue. In 1941, the New York City Planning Department proposed converting Queens Boulevard into a
freeway, as was done with the
Van Wyck Expressway, from the Queensboro Bridge to Hillside Avenue. The boulevard would be converted to an expressway with grade separation at the more important intersections, and by closing off access from minor streets. As part of the project, the express lanes of Queens Boulevard were depressed in the area of Woodhaven Boulevard and Horace Harding Boulevard (later turned into the Long Island Expressway), while the local lanes were kept at grade level. The plan to upgrade the boulevard was delayed with the onset of
World War II, and was never completed.
1960s–1970s and
Manhattan, 1973 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. The six service road lanes 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 six-lane main 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.
1980s to 2000s in
Elmhurst In 1985, the
New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) started a project to examine the causes of fatalities and injuries on the boulevard. As part of the improvement process, the city installed new curb- and median-extensions along the corridor; repainted crosswalks so they were more visible; added fences in the medians; closed several "slips" that allowed vehicles to make high-speed turns; posted large signs proclaiming that "A Pedestrian Was Killed Crossing Here" at intersections where fatal accidents have occurred; and reduced the speed limit from ; a few segments had 35 mph speed limits. Pedestrian signals were adjusted so that they were given 60 seconds to cross the boulevard, compared to 32–50 seconds before the improvements. In May 2001, the NYCDOT proposed eliminating a traffic lane in each direction between Kneeland Avenue and Union Turnpike to be used for metered parking to make the street safer. The arrangement was initially going to be piloted for eight months. Between 1993 and 2000, there were 72 pedestrian fatalities on the boulevard, with 24 in 1993 and 22 in 1997. A second phase covering the rest of the boulevard was studied from November 2001 to July 2004, and improvements were finished by late 2006. On April 5, 2004, city officials announced new measures to improve safety on the boulevard. These included additional fences to deter jaywalking, modifications to improve traffic flow and safety, longer crossing times for pedestrians, and the elimination of U-turns and left turns in some locations.
2010s to present: capital improvement On August 18, 2010, the
New York State Department of Transportation broke ground on the first phase of a reconstruction of the
Kew Gardens Interchange, involved in the project was the renovation of a nearby viaduct carrying Queens Boulevard over the Van Wyck Expressway and the nearby
Briarwood subway station (). In 2011, safety enhancements, including pedestrian countdown signals, were added. That year was the first year that no one was killed crossing the street since 1983, the year when detailed fatality records were first kept. In 2014, the speed limit on Queens Boulevard was reduced further, from 30 mph to . The speed limit decrease was part of de Blasio's
Vision Zero program, which aimed to decrease pedestrian deaths citywide. From 2014 to 2016, average speeds of eastbound cars on Queens Boulevard declined from , and the speeds of westbound cars declined from . The section between Roosevelt Avenue and 73rd Street received safety improvements, including
pedestrian zones and
bike lanes, as part of improvement's Phase 1, which began in August 2015 and was finished by the end of the year. Phase 2 between 74th Street and Eliot Avenue began in summer 2016. Phase 3 was split into two projects: between Eliot Avenue and Yellowstone Boulevard, and between Yellowstone Boulevard and Union Turnpike. The segment of the Phase 3 overhaul between Eliot and Yellowstone started in May 2017, while the segment between Yellowstone and Union Turnpike would start in July 2018. The project gained opposition from some of the community boards surrounding Queens Boulevard because parking spots were removed to make way for the bike lanes. ==Issues==