The Bicycle and Pedestrian Landscape Improvement Project of Queens Plaza is intended to create a gateway to Long Island City.
Urban Omnibus interviews Sandro Marpillero of urban designers Marpillero Pollak Architects, part of the team on the project.
"Urban Omnibus: Tell me about Queens Plaza.
Sandro Marpillero: Historically, it's a layering of several phases of intervention. First came the Queensboro bridge, in 1909. Then came one installment of the Elevated, the one that corresponds to the N/W/7 today. And then some years later, another layer of subway came in, which prompted the transformation of the elevated station, just west of what will be JFK Park. As part of the overall transformation of the bridge, the upper deck – previously devoted to rail and subway – became car traffic. The introduction of car traffic brought about the immense ramps that encircle Silvercup studios. This is where the main focus of our intervention is, but it's part of an ongoing transformation of a 1.3 mile stretch."
FULL STORY: Queens Plaza Bicycle and Pedestrian Landscape Improvement Project
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research