Fewer Cars or Expanded Highways? A Battle for New York’s Future on the Road

The battle over roadway expansion is playing out in an obscure but important planning document, with transit and environmental advocates pushing for fewer cars in the draft New York State Transportation Master Plan.

A group representing contractors, meanwhile, says the New York State Department of Transportation should focus its attention on maintaining existing roads before they fall into further disrepair.

The two sides are pushing department officials, who say the document will set priorities for statewide transportation policy through 2050. Those include planning for climate change, population shifts and new technology.

“This transportation plan doesn’t give us the safe and affordable options we need,” said Danny Pearlstein of the Riders Alliance transit group. “Instead, it’s an ‘everything-bagel’ approach that includes the highway widenings that are squandering billions of dollars and dividing our communities.”

Pearlstein, also a spokesperson for the New Yorkers for Transportation Equity coalition, said the draft plan should explicitly disallow highway construction. It should also set a goal of reducing the number of vehicle miles traveled, he said.

One of the six overarching goals in the plan is titled “accessible and affordable transportation choices.” It calls for increasing the number of public transit trips taken in the state and the number of residents who live within walking distance of public transit.

Debra Nelson, director of the transportation department’s Office of Policy, Planning and Performance, said the draft plan balances all the types of uses. In addition to language about transit use, the plan in several places set targets for reducing the number of substandard bridges and increasing the amount of well-paved aircraft runways.

“There’s not really a preference. It’s really about being able to move people to the places that they need to get to in the ways that serve [them] best,” she said. “It’s not focused on moving vehicles as much as moving people.”

The draft plan also includes statistics on the current state of the transportation system. In each region north of the mid-Hudson Valley, less than 5% of people get to work using public transit. More than 70% of people reported driving to work alone. By contrast, 46% of people in New York City use public transit to get to work, followed by 10% in the Hudson Valley and 9% on Long Island.

The draft plan says that less than 50% of the pavement on the interstate highways in New York is in good condition. The percentage of interstate highway pavement in poor condition is projected to rise slightly from its 2021 baseline, the draft plan says.

To Mike Elmendorf, president of the Associated General Contractors of New York State, the data is a sign the department needs to keep its eyes on its core mission.

“From the perspective of most New Yorkers — and certainly our perspective — one of the most important things that the Department of Transportation does is maintain the roads and bridges,” Elmendorf said. “I would like to see more focus on that.”

Pearlstein said the state plan should specifically rule out expansion of Route 17 in Orange and Sullivan counties. The transportation department is currently reviewing the environmental impacts of an expansion on what it describes as an important commuter and tourism connection.

The $1.3 billion expansion is intended to reduce crashes and save drivers time. But Pearlstein said it would increase ongoing maintenance costs and it’s only projected to save drivers six minutes.

“That’s money that shouldn’t be spent all in one place, but should be spread around so that people have more transportation options in more communities all over New York,” he said.

Elmendorf said widening the road in the area reflects new economic development, including the Legoland theme park. It’s accessible by car.

“I understand that there are people who just believe that no one should be riding around in a car,” he said. “It’s not reality.”

Nelson stressed that the master plan wasn’t a capital plan that included a specific list of projects. The public can comment on the master plan through Aug. 11 at nystransportationmasterplan.com

Story by Jimmy Vielkind/New York Public News Network

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