Trucks, trailers descend on Staten Island, prompting gridlock on highways, roads near Goethals Bridge

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — An army of trucks and tractor-trailers descended on Staten Island on Thursday, causing a traffic nightmare in the vicinity of the Goethals Bridge, impacting the Staten Island Expressway and the West Shore Expressway as well as access and service roads in the area.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey initially issued a traffic alert just after 7 a.m. warning of “heavy truck traffic” on the Staten Island Expressway just over the bridge at the Forest Avenue/Gulf Avenue exits.

Online traffic trackers showed the worst delays coming from New Jersey over the Goethals Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing.

An Advance/SILive.com photographer saw the line of trucks exiting the Staten Island Expressway at Forest Avenue, turning onto Goethals Road North and heading toward Port Liberty in Mariners Harbor, causing gridlock on those roads.

Video provided to the Advance/SILive.com showed cars driving on the sidewalk to escape the conditions.

Trucks also clogged the West Shore Expressway heading to the Goethals-bound Staten Island Expressway.

Truck traffic also spilled onto South Avenue and Richmond Terrace.

The situation appeared to mark the continuation of a troubling trend in which trucks heading toward the port take over surrounding streets.

Truck traffic tends to increase immediately following the arrival and unloading of a ship at the Port Liberty terminal, as those trucks pick up containers destined for area warehouses, a source told the Advance/SILive.com.

The delays lasted for hours, through the morning commute, past the lunch hour and into the afternoon.

By 3 p.m., conditions had eased on the West Shore Expressway. Heavy traffic was still reported on the Staten Island Expressway heading toward New Jersey.

‘Extremely late for work’

A driver who wished to remain anonymous said he was stuck in traffic for over an hour, from about 7:50 a.m. until about 9:15 a.m.

Trucks were blocking vehicles that were trying to merge onto a ramp that connects the West Shore Expressway to the New Jersey-bound Staten Island Expressway, according to the driver.

He said that some trucks were parked on the side of the road before crossing over to the exit, which leads to high-traffic facilities such as the container port and warehouses.

The driver said he was “extremely late for work as was everyone else.”

Ongoing concerns

The Advance/SILive.com has been chronicling the potentially life-threatening traffic concerns of members of Goethals Community on Goethals Road North — the only mobile home park on Staten Island — who have been trapped within the confines of the park due to a line of tractor-trailers heading to Port Liberty every time a ship comes in to unload its cargo.

“If we have a fire in the complex or a medical emergency, emergency vehicles will be delayed because they’ll be stuck up on Forest Avenue and not be able to come in here,” one resident told the Advance/SILive.com during Thursday’s situation.

Another resident, Carol Lombardo, said she recently had to go up to South Avenue to wait for Access-a-Ride to get to a doctor’s appointment because her ride couldn’t get to Goethals Road North.

“I was late for my doctor’s appointment,” she said. “I’m lucky he’d see me.”

While it is state law that “on-road heavy-duty vehicles” cannot idle for a period longer than five minutes, there are some exceptions, including when trucks are “stuck in traffic or otherwise required to remain motionless,” according to the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Richard Auchmoody, the manager for Goethals Community, also believes the trucks are bound for Port Liberty and noted that efforts to clear the entrance to the mobile homes have proven unfruitful.

“Why don’t the Port Authority make appointments for these trucks, 10 at a time, 15 at a time and we wouldn’t have this problem,” Auchmoody suggested.

In referring to a past incident, Auchmoody shared how trucks had previously prevented an ambulance from getting out of the community for about 10 minutes.

He noted that any time a ship comes in, the community is blocked up by these trucks attempting to enter Port Liberty.

Auchmoody noted that a couple of the streets were painted with an “X” in an effort to keep the entrances clear, but that has had no success. Instead, he suggested a crossing guard be posted in front of the community to ensure the smooth flow of traffic to and from the 128 homes within.

The Port Authority is working with the Department of Transportation and the NYPD to ensure trucks entering the port understand they cannot block intersections in neighborhoods surrounding the container terminal, an agency source said.

Among the tools being utilized are signage and bilingual flyers.

“We maintain an open line of communication with the community to ensure their concerns are heard and addressed,” said the Port Authority.

Port Liberty declined to offer immediate comment to the Advance/SILive.com.