Bloomberg Zags on Tolls
The week that Governor Pataki says he is ready to consider
East River bridge tolls, Mayor Bloomberg finally
admits the city has done nothing to prepare for their
implementation and says getting them up and running
will take too long to make a difference in the current
fiscal crisis.
New Jersey's Transportation Construction Raid
A new report from the New Jersey legislature says the
McGreevey administration has shifted $180 million from
the transportation trust fund — meant to provide
capital funding — into the state’s general
fund and NJ Transit’s operating budget, according
to the Star-Ledger.
Thruway Aims to Add Lanes in Orange County
The NY State Thruway Authority is likely to recommend
widening the Thruway to six lanes between Woodbury and
Newburgh, an 18-mile stretch through Orange County. Ramesh
Mehta, a leading Thruway official, said he expected an
Authority study of the road between Woodbury and New
Paltz to recommend adding lanes.
Gas Tax Pending for NJ?
As if on cue, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, Chair of the
New Jersey Assembly’s Transportation Committee,
said last week he would sponsor a bill for a state gas
tax increase. But he said such a bill would only provide
a short-term solution to NJ’s transportation funding
woes.
Government as Smart Neighbor?
Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney vetoed a proposal
last week that would require new county office buildings
to be located in downtowns. Gaffney said he vetoed the
plan because it does not present a clear definition of
what constitutes a downtown area, is difficult to enforce,
and would add to an existing "bureaucratic morass" in
siting county office facilities. Gaffney said the idea
is "well-intentioned" and asked county legislators
to work with him to make it easier to implement.
2nd Ave Subway Plan Shapes Up
The MTA has scheduled hearings in May (the 12th and 13th,
see calendar) for input on the recently released supplemental
draft environmental impact statement for the Second Avenue
subway project. The supplement to the EIS considers the
elements for subway construction along the entire 125th
Street-lower Manhattan route. The original draft only
considered a 125th St.-63rd St. project, that would link
into the Broadway tunnel, but that was disparaged by
many constituencies as a "stub-way" that would
fail to meet the East Side’s needs or significantly
unburden much of the jam-packed Lexington Avenue line.
NJ Sees Park-n-Ride Proliferation
A session at TransAction this week, entitled "The
Paved Paradise: Commuter Parking Lots," explained
New Jersey’s commitment to building new train station
parking, and raised questions as to whether state funded
development priorities are really promoting smart growth.
City Friendly Railroads?
City Comptroller William Thompson Jr.’s office
recent audit of Metro North and LIRR train stations found
that four of forty MTA stations in NYC had unsafe conditions,
including leaking water, crumbling platforms, and third
rail exposure.
Tug of War for Staten Island Ferries
Last week, the S.I. Advance reported that possible NYC
layoffs could mean that only two rush hour ferries will
operate from Staten Island to Manhattan. NYCDOT currently
runs four rush hour ferries across New York harbor, with
three during "shoulder" periods.
