Andrew Cuomo
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the substantial completion of the state Department of Transportation's $118.5-million bus/HOV lane extension on the expressway, the largest component of the massive rehabilitation project.
(Desmond Boylan)
OK, so maybe it's not to the point where they're selling "I Survived the Staten Island Expressway Reconstruction" T-shirts, but there's no question that the long-running project has been a trying ordeal for Island drivers and a lot of other people who use the hated Expressway regularly.
It has been a recurring nightmare for the more than 157,000 motorists who use the Expressway each day and a mind-blowing revelation for all those out-of-town drivers.
It has been only five years since the project -- which only made the regular traffic mess a lot worse -- started, but the average daily Expressway driver will tell you that it seems like a lot longer than that.
(We can only wonder how many life decisions -- to retire early, to move someplace else, to break up with someone, etc.-- were made by exasperated drivers on the basis of being unwilling to endure this endless traffic trauma any longer.)
A major component completed
Well, maybe it's too soon to break out the champagne, perhaps. There's some work left to be done. But it's not to early to say the end of this torment is in sight.
On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the substantial completion of the state Department of Transportation's $118.5-million bus/HOV lane extension on the expressway, the largest component of the massive rehabilitation project. The new lanes opened last evening.
Whether you use them or not, at least they won't be works in progress any more.
The project has included rebuilding three highway bridges; installing a new drainage system, pavement, lighting, signage and sound walls as well as adding an auxiliary lane in both directions between Bradley Avenue and Clove Road to enable traffic to enter and exit the highway smoothly.
The agency's $80.5-million "access improvement project" on Expressway entrances and exits finished up earlier this year.
Borough President James Oddo spoke for many when he said, "It has been a difficult few years for Staten Islanders who have had to deal with multiple road projects on and around the Staten Island Expressway taking place simultaneously. We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."
He added, "This HOV lane will make a positive impact on the lives of Staten Islanders -- and when the Verrazano Bridge project is complete, there will be a seamless express bus ride from Victory Boulevard to Downtown Manhattan. We all look forward to the day in the near future when construction on the SIE is completed."
So hold off on the champagne, for now. But you can at least put it on ice.