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

A Freight Plan for the NYMTC Region
Action 2 – The Southern Crossing Corridor – Coordinate Proposed Improvements
Description
Like the Northern Crossing corridor, the Southern Crossing corridor is an extremely
important transportation system that serves many travel markets. The Southern Crossing
corridor includes three major bridges and several major regional highways that carry high
volumes of traffic and are often severely congested. It carries traffic to and from many
parts of the region, including Newark and JFK airports; the seaport facilities in Newark/
Elizabeth and Staten Island; and communities in Brooklyn, northern New Jersey, Staten
Island, Queens, and Long Island.
Two important transportation studies already are underway by the agencies responsible
for these facilities that would impact travel in this corridor:
1. The Goethals Bridge EIS – Working with the U.S. Coast Guard as the lead Federal
agency, the PANYNJ is initiating a NEPA DEIS to examine strategies for improving
the interstate crossing at the Goethals Bridge to address its functional obsolescence
and improve safety, reliability, and level of service.
2. The Staten Island Expressway MIS – NYSDOT has completed a study of the feasibility
of constructing a bus/HOV lane system and other improvements along the Staten
Island Expressway.
A corridor-wide study would bring together the results of these studies and evaluate their
overall impacts on the corridor. It also would permit the agencies conducting the facility
studies to work together to identify an overall plan for assessing transportation problems
in the corridor.
The Goethals Bridge EIS is intended to address substandard features and improve levels
of service. Increasing traffic volumes and wider standard vehicles accentuate the deficiencies
of the existing bridge. Its two 10-foot-wide lanes in each direction are two feet narrower
than current design standards. The bridge lacks shoulder lanes and has steep
approach ramps. These features contribute to worsening congestion, recurring delays and
above-average accident rates. Its sister Outerbridge Crossing faces similar traffic pressures
and physical constraints.
PANYNJ’s Goethals Bridge Modernization Plan will include among the alternatives to be
assessed the replacement of the Goethals Bridge with a new structure. The original bridge
deck will undergo major rehabilitation in the near term to extend its service life for seven
to 10 years while the DEIS and plans for eventual implementation of a capital improvement
go forward.
The Staten Island Expressway runs east-west and carries three travel lanes in each direction,
separated by a median. As shown in Figure 5.10, the Staten Island Arterial Needs
Study identified a number of proposed improvements along this corridor, including the
addition of a bus/HOV or BRT lane in each direction on the Expressway and the
Cambridge Systematics, Inc. 5-42