Office of Borough President James P. Molinaro
Staten Island, New York
B.P. Molinaro confident his proposal to extend West Shore service road is not "scrapped" by State DOT
B.P. says completing valuable service road corridors too important to residents.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Borough President James P. Molinaro today reacted with great dismay to the report that, due to environmental concerns, the State Department of Transportation is scrapping his proposal to complete the service roads between Bloomingdale Road and Woodrow Road on both sides of the West Shore Expressway, which border wetlands.
“This proposal is definitely not scrapped,” said Molinaro. “Reports of the demise of our service roads have been greatly exaggerated. They are much too important to the quality of life on the South Shore. They offer valuable alternatives for motorists when expressways are jammed with non-local traffic, and they provide emergency vehicles with access that can save lives.
“I have been pushing for the completion of these service roads since 2002 and I will continue to press forward,” Molinaro added. “I’m sure that Staten Island’s other elected officials will join me in insisting that the State DOT sit down with us to come up with a workable solution. Other states across the country whose roads border wetlands have found a way to strike a balance. Why not New York?
“I am confident that Governor Paterson, the State Department of Environmental Conservation and DOT understand that with 5% of the City’s population but 16% of its registered vehicles, Staten Island must find a common-sense solution to our traffic dilemma,” Molinaro continued.
“Let me remind everyone that Staten Island has done an excellent job in preserving our natural areas,” Molinaro said. “Our total City, State, and Federal parkland exceeds 12,300 acres – one-third of the entire Borough’s land area is fully protected and can never be developed. On the other hand, a poor job has been done improving our roads. That’s where the urgency lies.”
Molinaro reiterated that the continued growth of the South Shore increases the justification for the roads. Studies have shown the area bordering these unbuilt service roads to be the fastest-growing community in the State. In Charleston alone, projections show an anticipated 4.1 million square feet of new office and retail, accompanied by more than 12,000 additional cars daily.
Moreover, the wetlands affected by construction of these roads were created as temporary drainage ditches during construction of the West Shore Expressway.
“Blind preservation of these ditches, mapped as wetlands in the 1980’s, is short-sighted and not in keeping with government’s duty to strike a balance toward meeting community needs,” Molinaro said. “Solutions are available. The will to find a solution is what we need.
“The architects of yesterday’s failures cannot claim to have the solutions to today’s problems,” Molinaro continued. “We were told Fresh Kills could not be closed, but yet we were successful in closing it. The naysayers were at it again with the Charleston retail development. But my office worked with City agencies to get it done, and now we’re providing jobs and tax revenue to the City and State.
“The function of government is not to tell people ‘no,’ but to solve problems by asking, ‘How can it be done?’ We must not leave our valuable service roads out-of-service. Let’s get it done!”
April 15, 2008