nymtc regional freight plan - New York Metropolitan Transportation ...

A Freight Plan for the NYMTC Region
Several proposals have been advanced for addressing the issue of access to JFK airport
and related industrial areas. From the north, suggested strategies include extending the
Clearview Expressway through a tunnel to JFK, or making further operational and capacity
improvements to the Van Wyck Expressway. There is considerable community opposition
to the Clearview extension and it has been dropped from further consideration.
The need for capacity improvements along the Van Wyck Expressway corridor was identified
as a key concern in the New York City Arterial Goods Movement Study (March 2003).
NYSDOT and the PANYNJ recently completed some capacity improvements along the
southernmost segment of the Expressway in conjunction with the JFK AirTrain project.
These primarily involved minor improvements at ramp junctions, and the upgrade of
shoulder segments to create weaving sections between adjacent on/off ramp pairs.
NYSDOT currently has a project on the TIP that will examine operational issues at the
Kew Gardens Interchange, where the Van Wyck crosses the Grand Central and Jackie
Robinson Parkways. While only limited commercial traffic is permitted on a portion of
the Grand Central, any operational improvements at this heavily congested interchange
would have a positive impact on truck movement along the Van Wyck.
A more ambitious plan for the Van Wyck corridor would involve the construction of an
additional travel lane in each direction through the submerged section of roadway south
of Jamaica Station. This would be a major undertaking, and would likely require
substantial infrastructure improvements to widen the Van Wyck “trench” in this area and
cantilever the Expressway service roads over the outermost lanes on the mainline below.
From the south and west, current strategies include improvements to Atlantic Avenue and
conversion of part of the Bay Ridge branch of the LIRR to a truck haul road while maintaining
the railroad right-of-way. Due to the geometric configuration of the existing rightof-way,
as well as response to concerns expressed by community groups, improvements
on Linden Boulevard to facilitate truck traffic have been dropped from further consideration.
In regard to the Belt Parkway, there are safety concerns, potentially high infrastructure
upgrade costs, and community concerns associated with allowing commercial
vehicles . There is no current proposal to allow commercial vehicles on the Belt Parkway.
Transportation Impacts
Improvements to the Van Wyck Expressway and Atlantic Avenue were not sufficiently
defined to permit the inclusion of analysis in this report. The operational study of the
Kew Gardens Interchange is included in the current TIP, while the more substantial widening
of the Van Wyck is a conceptual proposal that has not yet been examined in any
detail.
Other Impacts
Improvements to the Van Wyck Expressway and Atlantic Avenue were not sufficiently
defined to permit the inclusion of analysis in this report.
Cambridge Systematics, Inc. 5-51