Trucks back up traffic on Staten Island near Goethals Bridge on Friday before Memorial Day

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — One of the busiest travel days of the year just got worse, as truck traffic snarled access roads and the Staten Island Expressway near the Goethals Bridge on Friday afternoon.

Gridlock caused by large numbers of trucks heading toward Port Liberty in Mariners Harbor has been a continuing traffic nightmare for drivers on the expressway and residents who live near the bridge.

Truck traffic on Friday backed up on Goethals Road North to Western Avenue, a major access route to the expressway, around 1 p.m., according to an alert from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Goethals Road North to the container port was also snarled by trucks, according to a driver who was stuck in the traffic jam.

Delays were also reported on the Staten Island Expressway, Brooklyn bound, to at least Gulf Avenue, according to 511 NY and Google Maps.

Truck traffic over the Goethals to Staten Island was clogging the right lane, according to the driver.

An enormous amount of trucks cross the span each day on their way to and from warehouses and the container port.

Traffic traps Staten Islanders in their homes

The situation on Friday 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 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 a previous jam.

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.