Copyright Staten Island Advance
Didn’t they forget something? As part of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s election-year splurge, New York is going to spend $600 million to repave major roadways across the Empire State next year. That’s 180 total projects, accounting for 2,150 lanes of roadway on state expressways and parkways. A total of $78.9 million of that money be spent in New York City. That includes $8.3 million earmarked for Staten Island. A lot of the money spent here will go toward repaving entrance and exit ramps to the Staten Island Expressway, the West Shore Expressway, the Martin Luther King Expressway and the Korean War Veterans Memorial Parkway. Sure, it’s going to be a pain putting up with any delays and road closures associated with the repaving. But, hey, it’s either complain about that or complain about car-shuddering, axle-snapping potholes. And I’d gladly put up with all of it if there was just one more project on the list: extending the HOV lane on the New Jersey-bound Staten Island Expressway all the way to the Goethals Bridge. How can the state leave such an obvious project off the list? And in an election year to boot? Staten Islanders have been crying out for years for the HOV lane to be built out all the way to the bridge. After all, who builds a high-occupancy vehicle lane that just stops dead in the middle of a highway? What good is having an HOV lane with the potential to get you to a destination faster if the lane doesn’t actually get to the destination? We’ve been told that the extension isn’t necessary. Well, I call shenanigans on that. The Jersey-bound SIE is consistently one of the most traffic-clogged highways in the region. Not just on Staten Island or in the tri-state area. On the entire East Coast. At least it feels that way. Anybody who’s driven around the region on vacation or for a weekend getaway can attest: the only place you hit grinding traffic on when you’re on the SIE. OK, the Belt Parkway is reliably pretty bad as well. Heavy truck traffic has a lot to do with that congestion on the SIE. It’s a major commercial corridor for ground shipping. But that truncated HOV lane is a big offender as well. Traffic snarls as cars have to merge back into the travel lane after the HOV lane terminates near Victory Boulevard. The “exit only” lane leading to Bradley Avenue is another contributing factor to SIE congestion, of course. But that HOV lane is a main offender as well. We’ve also been told that the extension would be too expensive. The state DOT in 2021 told then-GOP City Councilman Steve Matteo that it would cost from $500 million to $800 million to complete the HOV lane in both directions, and $300 million to complete it in just one direction. Even if that number is as out of whack as it sounds, the state can always find money for a project if it wants to bad enough. Just look at the new $1.4 billion Buffalo Bills stadium. New York state and Erie County, at the direction of hometown gal Hochul, are putting up a staggering $800 million of that. And now hundreds of millions more are being spent to repave roads. But not to extend the HOV lane, which could be transformative for Staten Island drivers. It’s a matter of priorities. And Staten Island, as usual, doesn’t make the cut. Thanks for the paving delays anyway, New York state. Remember that when Hochul comes around asking for your vote next year.
