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Improved mass transportation, freight trains, hybrid cars, walkable communities, grid-like streets, alternative fuel—in addition to removing harmful pollution, they could help keep trucks and cars off over-congested roads while also keeping the remaining traffic moving. Put into effect, they would also enable us, collectively, to reduce our carbon footprint.
Demanding Measures for Demanding Times
Alternative transportation initiatives, of course, are not without controversy. Consider for a moment New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion-pricing proposal which aims to impose a fee on cars entering Manhattan below 86th St. on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Though critics see it as nothing but a tax, Eric Alexander says the program is good for Long Island, too.
“It impacts the entire region,” notes Alexander, executive director of Northport-based Vision Long Island, a non-profit that advocates smart-growth principles. The plan would lead to the “reduction of emissions” that contribute to climate change, he points out. And, the fees collected are expected to help provide funding to improve transit services including the Long Island Railroad
The Habits They Are a-Changin’
But it seems that transportation initiatives can’t come soon enough. Parts of the Island are practically bursting at the seam, as big box stores dot heavily congested roads, attracting even more traffic in a region where locals are deeply entrenched in the habit of driving to go virtually anywhere.
Yet in some instances our habits may be changing. The High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on the Long Island Expressway, for instance, now extends from exit 64 to the Queens border, prompting locals to carpool to work, according to Long Island Traffic Management, a Melville-based non-profit organization. And in March 2006 hybrid cars–regardless of the number of passengers inside–were granted access into the HOV lanes, adding yet another incentive to purchase a Prius or other low-emission and energy-efficient vehicle.
The progress is evident: Nassau and Suffolk counties are already switching to county-use vehicles that use cleaner fuels. And plans are in progress for East Side Access, bringing Long Island Rail Road commuters to Grand Central Station. It is hoped this will encourage commuters working on the East Side or midtown north to take the railroad, further reducing traffic congestion and improving regional air quality.
There are also efforts underway to bring freight into Long Island and the metro area, by rail rather than truck. Light rail is already a component of the proposed Nassau County Hub project, which upon completion is expected to draw people to a redeveloped Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, shops, housing and even a minor league baseball stadium.
Individual Involvement, Greater Gain
Meanwhile from Port Washington to Mastic, villages are experiencing or completed the process of “visioning,” where residents, business owners and government leaders meet to discuss the future development of their communities, often in the hopes of making them more sustainable.
But improvements don’t simply happen, they come with scores of studies followed by loads of debate, final reports and public comment. The road to progress is nothing short of a very time consuming process. Yet the more public discussion, and the more engagement from communities, developers and government officials, especially in the initial planning stages, the better the likely outcome, experts say. Those discussions are a critical aspect in an already-developed suburbia, where there is little room left for mistakes.
Those engaged discussions are the best way to get at the “root cause of sprawling development,” notes Kate Slevin, acting executive director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a New York-based non-profit organization whose mission is to reduce car dependency in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
But true solutions mean forward thinking, a concept that is not always in full throttle when it comes to remedying transportation in New York, where Slevin says planning often is still conducted “the old-fashioned way,” namely, by local communities without a strong partnership with the state. In such scenarios, local governments may believe the antidote to traffic is a bigger road, which Slevin points out, winds up attracting more cars, leaving communities with the same congestion situations.
“It’s a problem right now,” says Gilbert Anderson, commissioner of public works in Suffolk. Local planning has not addressed growth issues, he says.
For a more enlightened approach, Slevin and other experts point to Trenton-based State of New Jersey Department of Transportation, with a “Future in Transportation” initiative, known as NJFIT, that proactively coordinates road building with community building. NJFIT advocates organizing road projects with zoning changes with the cooperation of local government officials so that future development does not traffic off residential streets.
Such a road would cost $100 million, says DOT spokeswoman Eileen Peters. Instead, the DOT has developed a more “cost-effective” way to meet those objectives via a $37 million reconstruction project that would improve Crooked Hill Rd., which already serves as an industrial rather than residential area.
But Stern also worries about “other big projects in the area. Truck traffic is already a problem,” he says.
What’s more, the proposed site is adjacent to Edgewood Preserve, a wildlife habitat. “The impacts on wildlife could be devastating,” notes Denis Byrne, president of Friends of the Edgewood Preserve, Deer Park. “And the air quality issues, possible groundwater contamination, noise, carcinogenic diesel emissions, including soot and PAHs [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons] are a major concern, as are localized traffic increases,” he says. According to Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, PAHs are chemicals released into the air through the incomplete burning of coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage or other organic substances, such as tobacco and charbroiled meats. They have been linked to birth defects, reproductive, skin and immunological problems.
Still, Byrne says there are some merits to the project. “Conceptually, the idea of using trains to bring in freight is appealing and could work if they only planned to build several smaller Intermodals closer to the final destinations of the freight being shipped,” he says.
The DOT, Peters says, is collecting public comments and will “review every single comment” before any final decisions are made.
The Pilgrim State site is not the only location under debate. In Western Nassau, residents and public officials oppose the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plans for a third track that would enable the LIRR to better service reverse commuters. But critics, including Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, question whether there is a need for such a project, or if running more trains and adjusting schedules would address any such demand. Bill Corbett, who started Citizens Against Rail Expansion in Floral Park, says the project would disrupt businesses with street closings, noise and vibration from construction.
He wonders if the project is a guise for carrying freight, which would add to his community’s already considerable noise pollution from planes flying into nearby Kennedy Airport and helicopters flying to the East End.
Yet Michael Deering, vice president of government affairs at Melville-based Long Island Association, the region’s largest business organization, supports the third track. “Right now there are 120,000 reverse commuters, and a significant number are driving,” he says. “We’d reduce the number of cars by putting them on the train.”
Keeping a Close Eye Is Crucial
As those and other debates continue, officials must keep a watchful eye for traffic patterns and development plans in neighboring communities, notes Bob Weitzner, the mayor of Port Washington North. “If one municipality tries to detour traffic away from one road, while another adjacent municipality approves a site plan for increasing residential density or a business district, we have quite a dilemma,” he points out. That’s why communicating with government officials about the big picture is critical.
“You usually have one shot at reducing traffic using road construction techniques,” he notes. “Once implemented, at great cost and time, you cannot go back and change your mind.”
