Jamaica Avenue's Facelift Continues

Over the past week, residents of Woodhaven are seeing some definite signs of finality to the overall facelift Jamaica Avenue is receiving.  For starters, remember the horrible condition the street was in after the rough winter we encountered?  Dangerous potholes were left in its' wake and while the patching that was done somewhat relieved the problem, it didn't resolve it.  Well over the past week, at night, crews have been busy repaving the entire surface of Jamaica Avenue and it's looking sharp.  Here we are at 95th Street and Jamaica. 

We're at the same spot in this picture, just looking the opposite way.  The street is a real pleasure to drive down.  Right now, the street is paved from Richmond Hill until Woodhaven Boulevard.  The rest of Jamaica Avenue is scheduled for repaving in the next week or so.

Down on the other end of Woodhaven, they are making great strides on the Elevated Train -- here's a real interesting picture -- you can see the way the station looked (the dingy, rusty tan), the reddish rustoleum, the gray base coat and finally, in the distance -- the first appearance of the final green color. 

And here is a much better look at the (nearly) finished product, down around 77th - 78th Streets.  Looks sharp, eh? 

A few closeups.  If you look real close you see that there's some scarring -- heck, it's almost 100 years old.  But the structural repairs that they did have left it almost like new.

Look how it shines!  This overhaul was a long time coming and it looks really nice.  They are currently working between 85th Street and Forest Parkway -- they are moving across Woodhaven quite fast.  Scroll down for the schedule for the next two weeks.  

Here's another "before and after" shot -- you can really see the difference -- and the great work that's been done.

Next will be the repairs to the cement around the base of the stanchions -- across Jamaica Avenue these cement bases are in serious disrepair.  Many of them are broken and crumbling apart. 

Here's our question -- do we even need the cement bases?  Check out this picture -- all of the stanchions on Liberty Avenue have just a small patch of cement at the bottom, near the sidewalk -- that looks so much neater --

And, as it turns out, that's exactly the way they were along Jamaica Avenue back in the 1940s -- not one of the stanchions had all that cement.  Wouldn't it be cheaper -- and look nicer -- if they just knocked off all that cement right down to the street level and painted the stanchion green?

BTW, can you guess what streets are shown below?

Click here for the answers.

Finally, here is the schedule for the next 2 weeks -- plan accordingly.

If you have any comments, or would like to suggest other projects, drop us a line at info@projectwoodhaven.com or projectwoodhaven@aol.com.  

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Photos by Joey Wendell