ICYMI: 'Boulevard Of Death' Has Claimed No Lives In Two Years, de Blasio Says

QUEENS — The "Boulevard of Death" hasn't lived up to its nickname in the last two years, according to Mayor de Blasio.

No fatal accidents have occurred on the notoriously dangerous Queens Boulevard since the Department of Transportation named the street a Vision Zero Priority Corridor in 2014, de Blasio said in a statement.

Since then, it's been undergoing redesigns on the two-and-a-half mile section between Woodside and Elmhurst which have added bike lanes, increased space for pedestrians and slowed traffic. The improvements will now be introduced in the section of the road that runs through Forest Hills and Rego Park.

The boulevard was given gruesome nicknames such as "The Boulevard of Death" and "The Boulevard of Broken Bones" by locals due to the high number of deaths occurring there. In 1997 alone, de Blasio said, 22 people died on the boulevard.

In addition to the absence of fatal car crashes on the boulevard, the number of accidents has also decreased, with pedestrian injuries down 49 percent in the section of the boulevard affected by Vision Zero, according to the mayor. And the number of cyclists now feeling brave enough to use the stretch of roadway increased by 120 percent.

Work on the Forest Hills and Rego Park sections of the road will start in June, the city said. Plans include the addition of bike lanes and crosswalks and the expansion of medians on the one-and-a-third mile section.

All of the changes to Queens Boulevard will cost $4 million, according to de Blasio.

“The transformation of Queens Boulevard is among the greatest achievements of the Vision Zero era,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.

“In just a few years, what was once a forbidding highway-like street bisecting communities has started to become a grand and welcoming boulevard worthy of Queens."

Lead image via Google Maps