Staten Island Expressway Gains a Lane

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) recently announced the beginning of construction on a new westbound lane on the Staten Island Expressway, reports Erik Bascome. The new lane will be added between the northbound Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway entrance ramp and the South Avenue exit ramp.

NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez is quoted in the article promising that the project will reduce congestion, both on the expressway and on adjacent local roadways.

"The approximately $3.3 million project will construct an additional lane to provide more time for vehicles to merge onto or exit the expressway, subsequently increasing vehicle capacity, improving mobility and significantly reducing traffic congestion along that stretch," writes Bascome.

The new auxiliary lane is the latest of hundreds of millions of dollars invested in improving the roadway and its entrances and exits, according to the article.

The article does not mention any criticism of the project from local groups or environmentalists, not does it mention the climate emissions the road will add to the transportation system, nor the possibility that induced demand will render obsolete the congestion relief promised by the project's supporters.