One week after the hit and run killing of a 59 year old man in Forest Hills, safety advocates are echoing what residents and business owners along Queens Boulevard have known for a long time—that the roadway is still an accident waiting to happen. Queens Boulevard has been one of the city’s deadliest thoroughfares for decades, with heavy traffic speeding through densely populated blocks lined with schools, homes, religious institutions and retail areas. Popularly dubbed the "Boulevard of Death," the 7.1 mile thoroughfare has the second highest accident rate in Queens—behind Hoyt Avenue near 31st Street—and the sixth highest in all five boroughs, according to an April 2006 study by the city Department of Transportation. "Few streets require as much of pedestrians," said Amy Pfeiffer, program director of Safety Routes for Seniors at Transportation Alternatives, a Manhattan based nonprofit group. "I think most people are terrified of crossing, but it’s just one of those unavoidable hazards you’re forced to live with." Seniors and young children are most at risk for death or injury, Pfeiffer said. Elderly residents have trouble moving at the average adult pace of 4 feet per second and, as a result, get caught in the middle of the road after the light changes. Young children, by contrast, move too quickly through the roadway and fail to anticipate traffic patterns—as was the case in November 2000, when 14 year old Sofia Leviyev abruptly crossed against a red light and was fatally struck by a minivan. Public outcry following that incident prompted DOT to make several changes. Two lanes of traffic were eliminated by installing parking meters on the access roads, the speed limit was reduced to 30 mph and more than 20,000 feet of median fencing was erected to prevent pedestrians from crossing midblock. The city has seen fatalities decline substantially in the last six years, after peaking at an average rate of 10 per year in the 1990s. Between 1993 and 2000, it was the site of 72 pedestrian fatalities and more than 2,300 injuries. In 2001, there were four pedestrians deaths; in both 2002 and 2003, there were six fatalities per year. The rate dropped to two per year in 2004 and 2005. But safety advocates worry that trend may not hold much longer. After making sweeping improvements between 2000 and 2004, the city has lagged in efforts to reduce hazards over the last two years, said Stephen Melnick, who founded the Queens Boulevard Restoration Group in 2003 to lobby for better maintenance. "Don’t get me wrong, the city has done a lot to save lives," he said. "But I question the lack of follow through, because nobody seems to be coming back to finish the job they started." Melnick, who lives one block off the boulevard on 72nd Drive, pointed to several pedestrian access ramps in Forest Hills and Rego Park that were never constructed and about a dozen corners still missing the pedestrian barriers promised by the city. In other locations, the roadway has deteriorated due to neglect or inconsistent maintenance, Melnick said. Crosswalks and median curbs are cracked or broken, paint on many turning lanes has worn away and sunken catch basins have created deep potholes. Particularly concerning to him are the size of crossing medians, which measure only four feet at some of the boulevard’s busiest intersections. "If you are in a wheelchair or pushing a stroller, and you get stuck on one of those things, well, you’re in trouble," he said. In May, Councilman John Liu (D Flushing), chairman of the Transportation Committee, urged the agency to install a series of experimental crossing signals that count down the seconds before the lights change at Yellowstone Boulevard and several other Forest Hills crossings. Transportation officials said they were aware of the councilman’s request, but rejected the proposed safety measure as a low priority. A DOT spokesman also denied allegations that the agency is lagging in its approval of new safety measures, citing the recent extension of crossing medians on three blocks and the permanent closures of both a parking lot access road and a cross street near 33rd Street in Long Island City. As evidence of the city’s work on the boulevard, he also pointed to several road closures and lane restrictions slated to go into effect in fall 2007. But Pfeiffer said such modest improvements were "barely a drop in the bucket" compared with the changes implemented—or at least promised—six years ago. "As long as we have this huge street slicing right through the middle of a residential community and a business district, I’m not sure how much any of us can do to prevent more deaths," she said. "But we can’t just let the effort fall by the wayside."