The Tri-State Transportation Campaign recently sent the Port Authority a set of proposals for easing traffic at the Goethals Bridge during an upcoming deck rehabilitation. In an attempt to bolster its unpopular plan to twin the bridge ¾ and thereby increase traffic ¾ over the Arthur Kill, the agency has said the impending maintenance work could shut down half the lanes on the bridge and lead to traffic chaos without a second span to take up the slack. However, PA staff remain tight-lipped when pressed for details on the deck, indicating that lane closure talk may be mostly scare tactics.

But should the deck repair work require any lane closures, the rehabilitation presents an opportunity to implement a number of demand management and safety initiatives that the Tri-State Campaign and affected community groups have advocated as alternatives to building a second highway span.

Specifically, the Campaign has recommended that the PA offer other options to motorists by funding local bus and van service between Staten Island and New Jersey. Implementing a new toll schedule that charges more in the peak period will lessen the number of cars trying to cross when traffic is heaviest. Expansion of goods movement options also figures prominently among the proposals. By expediting ongoing rail freight projects such as the North Shore Railroad rehabilitation and the City of New York's cross-harbor car float investments¾and enhancing these services through temporary subsidies¾the PA could substantially lessen truck traffic at the crossing during the deck rehabilitation. The Tri-State Campaign looks forward to the PA's response.