Traffic nightmare in Astoria

Well, some people are complaining of a traffic nightmare in Queens

A busy stretch of 31st Avenue in Astoria is now a one-way street

Fox 5's Stephanie Bertini has more on how the city says the move is about putting public safety first

It's confusing. Confusion is one way to describe the new traffic patterns in place on and around 31st Avenue and 35th Street in Astoria, Queens

It's a headache. John Crane and his fiancee Carmela Cruz live on 35th

They say the DOT's decision to reduce lanes down to one way, except for cyclists around here, is creating traffic issues

more parking problems, and could potentially be a safety risk. We do get ambulances on the block every now and then

There's definitely older people that live here. And if they were to come now, they wouldn't be able to get through

I was just trying to find parking, which has become even more impossible. But basically people were honking and then getting so frustrated

that they were just ignoring the new traffic pattern and going straight into the bike lane

which is super dangerous. A spokesperson for the New York City Department of Transportation tells

Fox 5 News in a statement there is active construction underway on 31st Avenue as NYCDOT works to complete the first phase of its planned redesign of the corridor and all road users should use caution when traveling

through work zones. The redesign of 31st Avenue will help protect pedestrians and cyclists

support open street operation and strengthen connections to the 16.5 lane miles of protected

bike lanes and 21 lane miles of standard bike lanes and shared lanes in the area

I don't think there's enough cyclists and pedestrians for them to shut down a two-way street

Esmael Mouvares owns a coffee shop at 31st and 35th, where the changes were just put in place a few days ago

All the cars trying to go to one direction, it's nuts. He says he's regularly hearing complaints

I haven't found anybody that likes it. All I hear is complaints

While some are willing to wait and see if this is the first step toward improving things

I don't really care, to be honest. You don't care? We don't really drive, so we're happy to walk around

Do you think it's making things safer for pedestrians and cycling? It could be. I'm not really sure. We have to see how it pans out

Others say this just isn't a great idea. I think people don't know when to stop and go now because they're coming from both directions

Stephanie Bruccini, Fox 5 News