Brooklyn, Manhattan Contribute Goethals Twin Foes
A Brooklyn State Assembly member and Manhattan civic groups have joined the chorus of Staten Island and New Jersey voices urging the Port Authority to call off its plan to twin the Goethals bridge between Elizabeth and S.I. In a letter to Mayor Giuliani, Assemblywoman Eileen Dugan noted impending capacity constraints on Brooklyn's Gowanus Expressway (like the Goethals, also part of I-278). She said the expanded Goethals crossing would "make it easier for cars and trucks" to use Staten Island and Brooklyn as through routes, and "Rather than looking for ways to add traffic to the Downtown (Brooklyn) area, I believe the time has come to look for new and innovative ways to divert traffic from our neighborhood streets." The Soho Association, a business improvement district, and Trees Not Trucks, a Soho neighborhood organization, have also written to the Port Authority opposing the Goethals Bridge expansion, and are reportedly asking Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger to oppose the project as well. The lower Manhattan groups say the additional bridge capacity will add to their neighborhood's serious truck burden, because many trucks traveling from New Jersey to NYC make the round trip via the free East River bridges and eastbound Holland Tunnel, connected by Canal and Broome Streets. The Soho Association's comments on the project said, "The bridge twin may bring the Port Authority a new source of revenue, but it brings nothing to local businesses or residents, or to the people of New York City and the wider region for that matter. New York City must plan and invest in alternatives to truck traffic." These comments come after the Goethals twin project was roundly condemned by citizens and elected officials at June hearings in Staten Island and Elizabeth.
