Despite municipal and business interest in a transit solution along western Suffolk County’s congested Route 110, NY State DOT has made an unsurprising proposal — widen the road.DOT announced its plan at a March public hearing, according to Newsday.

DOT’s proposal would widen Rte 110 betweenthe Long Island Expressway and the Melville Mall, a short distance north of the Northern State Parkway.The plan requires replacement of the Parkway’s bridge over Route 110.DOT said the Parkway bridge would also be widened to include new acceleration and deceleration lanes.It’s also likely that the bridge plan would accommodate the Department’s interest in widening Northern State with new HOV lanes, controversial plan with no official approval.

Citizen and business groups who have been calling for a solution to congestion on the corridor had a lukewarm response to the announcement.A spokesman from Action Long Island, a Long Island business group, told Newsday, “In fact, our fear is that all it will do is shift the funnel – the bottleneck – to a different section of road.”

The towns of Babylon and Huntington have proposed mass transit hubs at either end of Route 110, a north-south route. These would link railroad stations with Route 110 workplaces via frequent bus and jitney services.

Suffolk Towns Propose Transit Hubs
(July 16, 2001)

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