34th Avenue Open Street

NYC DOT is transforming 34th Avenue between 69th and 96th Streets in Jackson Heights, Queens into the city's first permanent Open Street. This capital project follows the successful installation of the temporary 1.3 mile Open Street along 34th Avenue between 69th Street and Junction Boulevard. Learn more about the recent work along 34th Avenue on our Current Projects page.

The capital project seeks to:

  • Build the city's first permanent Open Street to prioritize pedestrians
  • Construct permanent shared streets and plazas along the corridor
  • Increase public space
  • Simplify corridor design
  • Add landscaping along the corridor

On a sunny day, people across a crosswalk in front of the pedestrianized 34th Avenue in Queens. The roadway is closed to vehicles and open for pedestrians and cyclists.
Pedestrians and cyclists travel along the 34th Avenue Open Street

Share Your Feedback

Review the draft capital project framework through a series of vision boards available below and shared at upcoming public workshops: English | 34th Avenue Open Street Capital Design Vision Framework – Fall 2025 (pdf) Bangla | 34তম অ্যাভিনিউ ক্যাপিটাল ডিজাইন ফ্রেমওয়ার্ Hindi | 34th Avenue कैपिटल डिज़ाइन फ्रेमवर्क Nepali | 34 एवेन्यू क्यापिटल डिजाइन फ्रेमवर्क Spanish | Marco de diseño de capital de la 34th Avenue Tibetan | 34th Avenue (ཨེ་ཝུ་ནིའུ།) མ་རྩའི་བཟོ་བཀོད་ཀྱི་སྒྲོམ་གཞི། Traditional Chinese | 第34大道資本設計框架

Public Workshops

Attend a public workshop to dive deeper into the capital design vision:

  • Saturday, October 25 from 11am to 2pm at Travers Park Plaza on 34th Avenue, Jackson Heights
  • Wednesday, October 29 from 6pm to 8pm at IS 227Q at 32-03 Junction Boulevard, East Elmhurst
  • Friday, October 31 from 2pm to 5pm at Travers Park Plaza on 34th Avenue, Jackson Heights
  • Thursday, November 6 from 5pm to 7pm at Queens Public Library, Jackson Heights at 35-51 81st Street

Survey

Share your thoughts about the capital design vision by taking our survey on SurveyMonkey before November 30, 2025. The survey is available in English, Bangla, Hindi, Nepali, Spanish, Tibetan, and Traditional Chinese: bit.ly/34avevisionsurvey

Current Project Updates

NYC DOT was awarded $90 million in funding for the capital design and construction to transform 34th Avenue between 69th and 96th Streets in Jackson Heights, Queens. NYC DOT is working with the community to gather feedback about the proposed typical block design and the corridor wide layouts. Following this outreach, NYC DOT will begin the capital project with our partners at NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC). Additional community outreach events will occur throughout the design process.

Capital Project Overview

Capital projects usually include roadway reconstruction, utility upgrades, and introduction of new street design materials. In contrast to what's been installed on the corridor, this capital project can include converting pedestrian areas to typical sidewalk level, additional public space furnishings and lighting fixtures, in-ground plantings and new street trees.

Two photos side by side showing the same plaza in Queens. The photo on the left shows the plaza created in temporary materials such as paint and planters and the photo on the right shows the permanent plaza with an elevated concrete surface, trees, and people sitting at tables and chairs.
Diversity Plaza in Queens. Left image shows the pedestrian plaza created with temporary materials, and the right image shows the capitally reconstructed plaza.

About the Project

Capital Project Design Timeline

  • 2025: Project scoping including public workshops
  • 2026: Begin Preliminary Design with NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) and design consultant
  • 2027: Conduct traffic analysis and develop schematic designs, includes: workshop schematic designs, design elements in plaza spaces, community board presentations, preliminary Public Design Commission review
  • 2028: Final Design for public and Final Public Design Commission (PDC) review
  • Future: Construction phase

History

And additional background leading up to the most recent street design changes on 34th Avenue:

  • 1997: 34th Avenue bike lane installed
  • 2007 to 2010: 78th Street Play Street in effect
  • 2010: 78th Street Plaza pilot begins
  • 2012: 78th Street/Travers Park capital project funded
  • 2018: Construction begins on 78th Street/Travers Park
  • 2018: Community calls for safety improvements on 34th Avenue
  • 2019: Community visioning meetings with schools to image a safer 34th Avenue
  • 2020: 78th Street/Travers Park completed
  • 2020: 34th Avenue Open Street launches; 34th Avenue Coalition founded
  • 2021: New York City Council vote to make the Open Streets program permanent
  • 2022 to 2025: 34th Avenue street improvement project installed
  • 2023: Alliance for Paseo Park founded to support the transformation of 34th Avenue
  • 2024: Paseo Park and WXY community engagement for their Community Roadmap Report
  • 2024: NYC DOT updates 34th Avenue with new safety improvements including new plaza blocks at 82nd and 83rd Street and piloted a curbside bike lane at 89th and 90th Street; community engagement begins for capital project
  • 2025: 34th Avenue street improvement project updates including shifting remaining bike lanes to curb side on plaza blocks

Contact Us

Questions? If you have any questions or concerns, please email publicrealm@dot.nyc.gov.