Queens Community Board 1 just gave its clearest signal yet on one of the most-watched street redesigns in the city. In a 35–4 vote at the end of a four-hour meeting attended by more than 200 people, the board endorsed Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Department of Transportation plan to redesign the entire length of 31st Street in Astoria with protected bike lanes and traffic-calming infrastructure.
What the Plan Actually Changes
The 31st Street project is notable for its scale. Rather than a piecemeal bike lane that ends at a busy intersection, DOT’s design would run the full length of 31st Street under the elevated N/W train line, tying together Astoria from north to south. Protected bike lanes, crossing upgrades, and signal retiming are the core elements, with loading zone and parking adjustments built in to keep commercial corridors functioning.
The board’s vote is advisory — DOT does not need CB1 sign-off to move forward — but the 35–4 margin is unusually lopsided for a high-profile bike lane proposal. It signals that the Astoria civic establishment is not treating this as a typical neighborhood fight and gives DOT political cover to proceed on the original timeline.
Why 31st Street Has Been the Flashpoint
31st Street sits under the elevated train, which means it’s one of the widest streets in Astoria with the most complicated signal and visibility conditions. Pedestrian and cyclist injury rates along the corridor have long been above borough averages. Earlier this year, when initial pushback from some business owners surfaced, DOT responded by extending the design rather than shortening it — covering the full length of 31st Street rather than a partial stretch. That extension became the plan CB1 voted on in April.
Queens Community Board 2, which covers Sunnyside, Woodside, and Long Island City, has separately offered a letter of support for a connected Sunnyside-Woodside protected bike lane network. And DOT has said it plans to return in 2026 to add bike infrastructure on Borden Avenue, building on the 1.9 miles of new bike lanes and safety upgrades already completed on Review Avenue, Van Dam Street, and Starr Avenue in Blissville.
What Happens Next
With CB1’s endorsement in hand, DOT will now move into the implementation phase. That typically means painting, hard infrastructure (concrete or flexible delineators), signage, and signal work. DOT has not published a final construction calendar for the 31st Street corridor yet, but based on past projects of comparable scope, expect phased installation through summer and fall 2026.
Businesses along the corridor should keep an eye out for loading zone changes, temporary traffic patterns during install, and DOT’s outreach coordinator meetings. Residents who want to give feedback before construction begins can reach DOT through the agency’s projects portal at nycdotprojects.info.
What You Need to Know
- CB1 vote: 35–4 in favor of the 31st Street redesign.
- Scope: Full length of 31st Street in Astoria — protected bike lanes, traffic calming, signal upgrades.
- Attendance: More than 200 people at the meeting, four hours of testimony.
- Advisory only: DOT does not need CB1 approval, but the lopsided vote removes a major political obstacle.
- Related projects: Sunnyside-Woodside protected bike lane network and Borden Avenue expansion are on deck.
- How to follow: nycdotprojects.info for construction updates and outreach meetings.
The Bigger Queens Picture
31st Street is one piece of a broader DOT push in western Queens. The 2025 “Biketober” expansion already added miles of new lanes connecting Queens to the Brooklyn waterfront, and the pipeline for 2026 includes both Borden Avenue and the Sunnyside-Woodside network. For anyone commuting by bike between Astoria, Long Island City, and Sunnyside, the 31st Street project is the most important connective tissue project on the board.
For Astoria businesses worried about the transition, DOT’s recent track record on similar corridors is that loading zones and curb management tend to work out with iteration — and that the cycling and pedestrian safety gains show up in crash data within the first year. Whether the 31st Street redesign follows that pattern is what the next 12 months will determine.
For more on how Queens is changing block by block, read our NYC 311 Decoder on Queens sanitation complaints.
