Friday, October 2, 2009

Group floats highway-in-the-sky proposal

From the NY Post:

The Belt Parkway would be a great place to construct an elevated express lane from Sheepshead Bay all the way to Kennedy Airport, a couple of community leaders are proclaiming this week -- and they want to use federal stimulus dollars to get the job done.

“We are stuck,” Community Board 15 Chair Theresa Scavo said. ”The Belt Parkway is antiquated and cannot handle the volume of traffic. The only place to go is up.”

The idea to erect an elevated express lane over the Belt Parkway is no pie-in-the-sky scheme, according to Scavo, and she already has enlisted the support of Manhattan Beach Neighborhood (MBNA} Association President Alan Ditchek.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Ditchek told members of the MBNA at P.S. 195 last week. “It would put people to work and everyone would be happy with the results.”

Seven spans along the Belt Parkway are already slated for upgrade as part of an extensive bridge rehabilitation program.

In addition, the city’s Department of Design & Construction is about to embark on a rehabilitation project of its own involving guardrails, drainage and catch basins.

According to Scavo, erecting an elevated express lane over the Belt Parkway could be accomplished in as little as two years.

“Very little of the stimulus money is being used,” Scavo suggested. “No one is even putting in for it.”

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

"It's a win-win situation".

Uh, actually, it's a total loss.

Anonymous said...

If you build it, they will come....in droves!

Anonymous said...

The only places where the pols want to build elevated roads in NYC are where they are not needed. Where more highway capacity is needed, there's no political support to make it happen. Long-term improvement in vehicle traffic flow in NYC is futile.

Ridgewoodian said...

Christ, this sounds like a throwback to the days of Robert Moses. If it happens the new capacity will be jam packed within a few years. How about building a couple of subway lines to the airports, just like every other world class city on Earth.

Anonymous said...

MOBSTERS FOR BLOOMBERG!

With all this ce-ment and demo and trucking activity with development (we need a better word to describe this) - and after watching the abortive coup in certain eastern Queens city council races - this is becoming clearer by the day.

Snake Plissskin said...

Another community board fireball.

Sheepshead Bites said...

One of the areas that would be most affected by this is mine: Sheepshead Bay. Check out the post we put up last week, which has additional information from CB15 chairperson Scavo, and read the comments to see Scavo battle it out with the councilman, a candidate for city council, and the community. It got pretty harsh!

http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2009/09/scavo-build-an-elevated-express-lane-for-the-belt/

Anonymous said...

well the airtrain didnt work...... i know i got it !!! lets build an elevated expressway at the belt parkway !!! that will work !

mortimer said...

extend the air train over that route and out to brooklyn

Anonymous said...

They can't keep the current belt pkwy free of pot holes and the lights operable! Look at the condition of the roadway on both sides of the Mill Basin and Plum beach bridges.It's so bad traffic slows to 20 mph ,backing up traffic 21 hours a day!

panzer65 said...

The Train to the Plane?