The state’s current plan involves shutting down the entire right lane of the southbound parkway for the duration of work, which is slated to begin on Tuesday and projected to take place through the summer.
“We’re trying to avoid the summer of hell here on Staten Island on the Korean War Veterans Parkway,” said Borough President Fossella at a press conference on the Tyrellan Avenue Overpass. “Right now, the state is proposing a construction project that will disrupt the lives of tens of thousands of people.”
Borough President Fossella said he hasn’t been fully briefed on the scope of the project, nor has the NYPD.
“Who was at the wheel when they decided to practically shut down the Korean War Veterans Parkway on Staten Island during the summer?” he asked. “You have people going back and forth and so many other reasons where traffic increases during the summer months — and it’s only going to get worse, and dramatically worse.”
He said the state “has an obligation to come forward to explain what they’re going to do” and called upon Staten Island’s state legislators to step in.
“We implore those at the highest levels of the state of New York to say: ‘Listen to the people of Staten Island, their pleas, their concerns, who sit in this traffic every day,” said Borough President Fossella. “It’s time for the state to listen, to step forward, call a timeout on this proposed project and figure out a better way to implement it so you’re not inconveniencing tens of thousands of people on a weekly basis.”
