Traffic Everywhere

I'm sure you've all heard about the massive jam in China that lasted for 10 days:
China's Massive Traffic Jam: Already Gone?
Reading about this has reminded me of the eternal traffic jam we experience each day on Long Island. Between our dozens of major arteries and hundreds of individual roads, it seems like we are constantly seeing construction zones and traffic backup at all hours of the day and night.

Some years ago the Governor Pataki had signed an executive order that all construction was to take place in the overnight period so as to minimize the effect on traffic. This seemed like the perfect solution. But now, even driving during rush hour and you will see backups due to construction. What happened?

Surely then the roads would be open over night, right? Well, that was proven wrong a few weeks ago when I was returning from Eastern Long Island to find that the entrance to the expressway was closed. OK, no problem I drove the service road expecting to get on the next entrance a few miles up ahead. When I got to the next entrance, it too was closed so was the next three before I could get on. This was at around 11:30pm on a Sunday night. What made it more aggravating was that I could see that the main road was open with traffic zipping along.

I know, now I'm complaining that they are doing night time construction, and you're thinking what the heck do I want? I believe my frustration comes from the fact that there is no clear plan for this construction at least to the driver's perspective. I'm driving on a road, expecting to use an entrance only to find it blocked, with no clear signs of detour or explanation. Construction crews while, they work hard at what they do and I respect them for it, it seems like they do not return that respect to me, as a driver or taxpayer.


They are so intent on their work, that they will close off a road seemingly without any thought of how drivers should get around. I've seen times when both the LIE and Northern State have construction delays at the same time. The North Shore only has these two major highways, why not make sure one stays open?

While our traffic has not reached the 10 day jam in China, nor is it as bad as what I've experienced in Mexico City, I believe that our traffic ranks as some of the worst in the world. It would be really great if the people designing and constructing the roads would better take into account the flow of traffic as they were building and making sure that the traffic continued to flow.

Next on the blog: The LIRR is in trouble again. Fire at a switching station in Jamaica has caused delays for days. So, we can't even escape traffic by taking the train. We'll talk about it!