Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo’s Priorities: $2 Billion to Cram More Cars on the Van Wyck

Cuomo on a bus playing with USB

$2 billion to add lanes to the Van Wyck while the transit system slowly fails, but at least we have USB ports on buses.

If the transportation budget he released this week is any indication, Governor Cuomo is serious about spending $1.5 to $2 billion to add lanes to the Van Wyck Expressway and its interchange with the Grand Central Parkway, part of a $10 billion overhaul of JFK Airport. Cuomo has allocated half a billion dollars for FY 2018 to get the project started.

The Cuomo administration says a lane will be added to each direction of the Van Wyck "within the highway’s existing right-of-way" and that the new lanes will be managed or tolled "to allow for adjustments depending on demand -- including for express bus or HOV service."

As Cuomo sees it, he's going to "save motorists a combined travel time of 7.4 million hours annually going to and from JFK," improve air quality around the highway by reducing emissions by "an estimated 30 percent," and keep airport-bound traffic off neighborhood streets.

But make no mistake -- this is a highway widening that will cost a ton of money and increase traffic. The notion that adding lanes will reduce local traffic or improve air quality runs counter to everything we know about how highways work.

Widening the Van Wyck Expressway won't make it less congested. Photo: Google Maps
Adding lanes to the Van Wyck Expressway won't cut traffic. Photo: Google Maps
Widening the Van Wyck Expressway won't really make it less congested. Photo: Google Maps

Empirical experience shows that adding lanes to congested roads leads more people to drive, until the road is congested again. Even if the new lanes prioritize buses, they will still make room for more cars and lead to more traffic in the long run. Those car trips won't begin and end on the highway -- they will burden local streets too.

Ask most New Yorkers how they would spend $2 billion on transportation, and faster highway trips to JFK would probably rank far down the list. The real crisis facing the city is its strained transit network -- the subways constantly delayed by signal failures and overcrowding, the buses slowed down by traffic and an antiquated fare system. Cuomo could do far more for New York by shifting his attention and budget resources to address these core problems with the transit network.

Even accepting the premise that the Van Wyck should work better for airport trips, other options could be explored, like converting an existing lane to exclusive use for buses, vans, and high-occupancy vehicles. But Cuomo has jumped right into highway expansion mode.

"The real problem is defaulting to any sort of lane or highway widening expansion without studying the alternatives first," Tri-State Transportation Campaign Executive Director Veronica Vanterpool told Streetsblog. "That is really the approach that our state DOT should be taking."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

The ‘Problem’ With E-Bikes? The Super Fast Illegal Ones

New Yorkers are riding illegal vehicles marketed as e-bikes with little to no-consequences, and it's a safety problem.

October 21, 2025

The ‘War on Cars’ Is Worth Fighting — And Here’s What Life Might Look Like When We Win

A first book from the prolific podcast hosts offers a solid foundation for would-be advocates against automobility — and some new ammunition for veterans.

October 21, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Carnage All Over Edition

Monday's papers were a blood tide of crashes. Plus other news.

October 21, 2025

‘Outrage’: Pols — And Even DOT Boss — Protest Trump’s Block on 34th St. Busway

A huge rally in Midtown to urge President Trump to get his meathooks off our transit included DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, who is poised to capitulate.

October 20, 2025

Monday’s Headlines: Uncharted Territory Edition

"No Kings" means hands off our busway. Plus the news.

October 20, 2025

More Tantrums: City Halts 34th Street Busway After Threat from Trump DOT

The feds threatened to cut city and state funding if New York doesn't halt all work on the 34th Street busway so the FHWA can review the project.

October 17, 2025
See all posts