Overview
LiRo-Hill provided resident engineering services, site support, cost estimates, and engineering design support for traffic and pedestrian improvements to Queens Plaza, a congested area of Long Island City. The project limits were Queens Plaza North to Queens Plaza South and Northern Blvd/ Queens Plaza East to 21st Street. The project ultimately realigned traffic patterns, improving safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, and improved the streetscape with new sidewalks and curbs, plantings, widened landscaped medians, and improved lighting. In addition, a new 1.5-acre park was created, incorporating a protected bikeway and pedestrian walkway, and integrating artist designed benches and pavers.
About the Project
Work included the partial reconstruction of the Queens Plaza Site, as well as adjacent streets, to enable improvements to be completed. Challenges included relocation of storm sewers; roadway construction and alignment; reconstruction of street lighting and traffic signal work; and maintenance of traffic, pedestrian safety, and site safety. Hundreds of new trees, plants and grasses were installed, and a wetlands area was developed within the park. Extensive coordination with the surrounding community, as well as related with agencies such as NYCDDC, NYCDEP, NYCDOT, ConEdison, and KeySpan were required. LiRo-Hill developed and implemented an extensive outreach campaign that successfully allowed the contractor to carry out the project without delays. Strong relations with Community Boards and Civic Associations groups were established to ensure that all stakeholders were aware of project issues and schedules.
Project Challenges & Solutions
The city had an aggressive completion schedule for the project. In order to meet the schedule goals, LiRo-Hill worked closely with the design team and contractors to address any changes or challenges as quickly as possible. As the project progressed, several scope changes were incorporated. LiRo-Hill worked closely with the design team to develop the best solutions to project related issues, and played an integral part in developing an efficient schedule.
