NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) officials launched a study on Monday to transform a major corridor that crosses two boroughs and is plagued by traffic trouble.
Officials will study Conduit Avenue, known as “The Conduit,” a three-mile artery that stretches through Brooklyn and Queens, to establish what infrastructure improvements are needed to improve safety. They said improvements will modernize the stretch to make it safer for all users, including drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
The community-driven study aims to incorporate public input to redesign the local street, which connects Atlantic Avenue and Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn to the Belt Parkway and JFK Airport in Queens.
However, the Conduit has three lanes of traffic in each direction separated by a wide green median—the remnants of an unbuilt expressway during the Robert Moses era—and it has become a haven for speeders with deadly consequences.
According to DOT, over the previous five years on the Conduit between Atlantic Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard, there have been at least 40 severe injuries and five traffic deaths.
The Conduit ‘is not a highway’
Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said that increased traffic and limited pedestrian infrastructure contribute to the safety issues along the stretch of roadway.
“Brooklyn and Queens Residents deserve a Conduit Boulevard that improves daily life, not a roadway that puts pedestrians and drivers at risk and physically divides entire neighborhoods,” Rodriguez said.
DOT officials also said that unpaved pathways on the median beg for improvement while speed cameras on parts of the Conduit log “the highest number” of speed violations around the city.
“We want to remind everyone that Conduit is not a highway. It is a local street,” Rodriguez said.
The study builds on other DOT-led projects along the corridor, including a reduced speed limit, speed cameras and the installation of a new sidewalk and signalized crosswalks along North and South Conduit Avenue at 79th Street.
Community-driven study
Brooklyn and Queens residents will have a chance to share ideas for the redesign during a series of workshops starting next month.
“Now is the time to let your voice be heard, at community workshops this month, we want to hear what New Yorkers think the Conduit should look like, and how it should serve our communities,” Rodriguez said. “It is time to let New Yorkers decide how the Conduit corridor can best serve the needs of the locals who use it most, while keeping them safe.”
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said the study has been “a long time coming” and described Conduit Avenue as a “disaster” in the city.
“Every day tens of thousands of New Yorkers and visitors use this road to get home, to work, to school and beyond,” he said. But the current state of the Conduit falls significantly short of meeting the needs of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike.”
He explained that the street is “confusing,” poorly designed and has a lack of pedestrian and bike infrastructure that makes it dangerous for the community.
To kick off the study, DOT arranged two community workshops in June that are open to the public with registration:
In-Person
Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Time: 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Location: Robert H. Goddard JHS 202, 138-30 Lafayette St, Ozone Park, NY 11417
Virtual via Zoom
Date: Thursday, June 12, 2025
Time: 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Register to attend
