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

A Freight Plan for the NYMTC Region
be required. Improved operations may divert more trucks to the new bridges, as well as
to the rest of the Southern and Eastern (I-278) corridors. With enhanced capacity to
accommodate and better manage the additional volumes, improved traffic flow could lead
to regional environmental benefits along either or both of the Southern and Northern
Crossing corridors. This project could significantly improve regional connectivity. The
Goethals Bridge improvements, in particular, could improve access to Howland Hook
Marine Terminal and related industrial uses. The projects face major institutional barriers
to implementation in terms of financing and community issues, and additional challenges
in requiring bi-state support in the case of the Goethals Bridge improvements. The
projects do not involve the introduction of new technologies.
The use of the median shoulders for buses on the Staten Island Expressway is considered
a “categorical exclusion” and therefore did not require an EIS. However, any operational
changes above and beyond the proposed bus-only use would require such a study.
Responsible Organizations/Action Plans
1. NYMTC, NYSDOT and PANYNJ – Conduct corridor study.
2. PANYNJ – Conduct Goethals Bridge EIS.
3. NYSDOT – Conduct Staten Island Expressway EIS.
Action 3 – Eastern (I-278) Corridor – Conduct a Regional Study
Description
The Eastern (I-278) corridor is an extension of the Southern Crossing Corridor and
includes the Gowanus and Brooklyn Queens Expressways. It connects the Verrazano
Narrows Bridge to the Long Island Expressway (I-495) and points further north and east,
and serves the industrial and port facilities along the Brooklyn waterfront.
Studies currently underway on improvements to several major highway facilities,
including the Gowanus and Staten Island Expressways, offer the opportunity to consider
creation of dedicated truck-only “freightways” during certain time periods. The use of the
bus-only shoulder on the Staten Island Expressway by trucks during off-peak periods is
described above in Action 2; the “dedicated freightways” proposed here for the Eastern
Corridor is essentially an extension of this “off-peak freightway” concept through Brooklyn
on the Gowanus Expressway.
As shown in Figure 5.11, a peak-period high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on the
Gowanus is used from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. in the inbound (eastbound/northbound)
direction for buses and for E-ZPass customers with three or more passengers. The
Gowanus Expressway is one of the most congested and capacity-constrained links of the
regional truck route network. Even outside of peak periods, it is often difficult for trucks
Cambridge Systematics, Inc. 5-45