New Jersey riding into New York City

Mike Tantillo wrote:
wrote:
The Catskill Eagle wrote:
There used to be a ferry from Perth Amboy to Staten Island does anyone
know if this still exists?

Ed-The Catskill Eagle


Nope, it has been gone sice the 60's, but if you ever get the chance,
the berths still exist in Tottenville and Perth Amboy and it is
interesting walking down to them.

There are sidewalks on either side of the Goethals Bridge, but judging
from the above comments they are in pretty bad shape.

I know the Port Authority is just starting to talk about a twin span
for the Goethals.
If that happens the existing span will be three lanes in one direction
and they probably will
rehab the sidewalks for bikes and peds.

They've been talking about it for a while, but Staten Islanders are
resisting it, saying that they don't think it will provide much benefit
to Staten Island and will instead be providing benefit to Brooklyn and
Long Island and leaving a lot of extra traffic on Staten Island.


Elizabeth, NJ, is opposed to it also as it will have a lot of new
construction in the Tpk
ic area. But as traffic, and especially trucks continues to increase,
I think there will be a bigger push for it from those interests.

Remember a while back when a four truck accident on the bridge
completely gridlocked
traffic for many hours.


Take care,
Randy in Tampa, FL, soon to return to NJ











Take care,
Randy in Tampa, FL, soon to return to NJ

wrote:
Mike Tantillo wrote:
wrote:
The Catskill Eagle wrote:
There used to be a ferry from Perth Amboy to Staten Island does anyone
know if this still exists?

Ed-The Catskill Eagle


Nope, it has been gone sice the 60's, but if you ever get the chance,
the berths still exist in Tottenville and Perth Amboy and it is
interesting walking down to them.

There are sidewalks on either side of the Goethals Bridge, but judging
from the above comments they are in pretty bad shape.

I know the Port Authority is just starting to talk about a twin span
for the Goethals.
If that happens the existing span will be three lanes in one direction
and they probably will
rehab the sidewalks for bikes and peds.

They've been talking about it for a while, but Staten Islanders are
resisting it, saying that they don't think it will provide much benefit
to Staten Island and will instead be providing benefit to Brooklyn and
Long Island and leaving a lot of extra traffic on Staten Island.


Elizabeth, NJ, is opposed to it also as it will have a lot of new
construction in the Tpk
ic area. But as traffic, and especially trucks continues to increase,
I think there will be a bigger push for it from those interests.

Remember a while back when a four truck accident on the bridge
completely gridlocked
traffic for many hours.

You don't need any accident to gridlock traffic....it happens on a
regular basis anyway.

Hint: to shave 10 - 15 minutes off the delay when exiting the turnpike
onto the bridge, keep right as you enter the tolls, keep right again
(278 west to NJ 439), then turn right on Bayway Avenue, and 1/4 mile
later, turn right again onto the bridge entrance ramp. Saves you the
hassle and delay of that massive merge there :-)



Take care,
Randy in Tampa, FL, soon to return to NJ











Take care,
Randy in Tampa, FL, soon to return to NJ

You don't need any accident to gridlock traffic....it happens on a
regular basis anyway.

Hint: to shave 10 - 15 minutes off the delay when exiting the turnpike
onto the bridge, keep right as you enter the tolls, keep right again
(278 west to NJ 439), then turn right on Bayway Avenue, and 1/4 mile
later, turn right again onto the bridge entrance ramp. Saves you the
hassle and delay of that massive merge there :-)



Thanks, but I know pretty much all of the tricks as I have driven
commercially in NY & NJ for many years. As we both know sometimes
there is nothing you can do.


While I have you, Mike, I know this is OT, but have you heard of the
new beltway plans for the new toll roads east of I-75 in the Tampa Bay
area?

This would be a great gift for the big developers and large landowners
in eastern Hillsborough, Manatee, and Pasco Counties, opening up
thousands and thousands of acres to new development, and affecting the
watersheds of several rivers like the Hillsborough River that provide
drinking water for the Tampa area.

I would like to know your thoughts.





Take care,
Randy in Tampa, FL, soon to return to NJ

wrote:
It shows you how long it has been since I have been there.
I am sorry Tottenville is not the small enclave it used to be.
It was very hard to believe you were still in NYC.

While S.I. obviously had its big spurt in 1964 when the VZ Br opened,
it has changed a lot in the last ten years with much growth. Many lots
with old single family homes have been bought, torn down, and replaced
with much larger multi family housing. Traffic congestion is pretty
bad now in many parts of the island. Many roads are too narrow to
handle today's traffic volume.

Miller Field, which used to be mostly open, is now busy soccer fields.

Staten Island is a lot like upper Northeast Philadelphia (above
Pennypack Creek). While much less dense than regular NYC, it is still
growing.

There are few places left on the island where you feel truly isolated.
Sadly, certain old industrial sections aren't very safe.

As an aside, NYT writer Gay Talese wrote a detailed book about
construction of the VZ Br. Recommended.

wrote:

You don't need any accident to gridlock traffic....it happens on a
regular basis anyway.

Hint: to shave 10 - 15 minutes off the delay when exiting the turnpike
onto the bridge, keep right as you enter the tolls, keep right again
(278 west to NJ 439), then turn right on Bayway Avenue, and 1/4 mile
later, turn right again onto the bridge entrance ramp. Saves you the
hassle and delay of that massive merge there :-)



Thanks, but I know pretty much all of the tricks as I have driven
commercially in NY & NJ for many years. As we both know sometimes
there is nothing you can do.


Yup, I was posting that hint for the public in general on the board,
not just you. But its worked nicely for me quite a few times.


While I have you, Mike, I know this is OT, but have you heard of the
new beltway plans for the new toll roads east of I-75 in the Tampa Bay
area?

Yes.


This would be a great gift for the big developers and large landowners
in eastern Hillsborough, Manatee, and Pasco Counties, opening up
thousands and thousands of acres to new development, and affecting the
watersheds of several rivers like the Hillsborough River that provide
drinking water for the Tampa area.

I would like to know your thoughts.

I have mixed feelings on this. First off, I don't consider it a
"gift", as tax dollars will not be used for the road....the users and
developers will pay for it in the end. So its more of a gift to the
toll road investors than anyone. But yes, I agree, it will be the
catalyst for a lot of development in the area.

I have mixed feelings about development in general, as I'd rather see
at least some land preserved and not developed. Of course, developers
arent interested in preserving it themselves, so before any massive
development occurs, hopefully the local jurisdictions would be smart
enough to do some master planning beforehand. On the other hand, if
the population is exploding, the people have to live somewhere.

I have no doubt that the newly developed areas will be relatively
congestion free, due to Florida's strict concurrency laws. But if
every one of those people commutes to downtown Tampa on existing roads,
that could be extremely problematic. I don't really know what the
solution would be, as a lot of different roads would need to be widened
in order to accomodate the low-density development.

I'd prefer to see smarter growth. Not all smart growth and no
traditional suburban growth, but smarter growth, meaning we build some
high density mixed-use stuff for people who do want it, and perhaps
some form of express bus service from those communities to downtown
Tampa might alleviate some of that rush hour congestion.

But obviously, the beltway will encourage quite a bit of development,
although absent the beltway, that growth would probably occur anyway
eventually.






Take care,
Randy in Tampa, FL, soon to return to NJ

In 2000, the East Coast Greenway http://www.greenway.org/ organized the
Wave. Relay teams carried a bottle of water from the Gulf of Mexico to St
John, NB. At that time, the proposed ECG route assumed the crossing from
Perth Amboy to Tottenville for bicylists and pedestrians would be restored.

The weather on the early Spring day the Wave crossed from NJ to NY was
sub-optimal: high 50's / low 60's with a light but persistant rain. The
three of us who'd agreed to carry the bottle by bike from Tottenville to
South Ferry met at South Ferry for the easy part of the trip: southbound
trip by ferry and SIRT. We knew each other, of course, but were surprised
to find a fourth cyclist waiting at the South Ferry terminal for the same
boat. Clearly, he was equipped for a journey.

After some wary NY-style eye contact, we got into conversation. He was a
German tourist and this was his first day on a westbound transcontinental
bike ride. Yep, he appeared to have the right clothes and gear, but his
map was a limited general roadmap. He assumed he'd be able to head west by
bike over the Outerbridge Crossing.

Well, our plan involved meeting a boat -- I don't know whether what we met
was anything similar to what was formerly in ferry service -- that was
sailing just that one time from Perth Amboy to Tottenville and back after
handing off the bottle of Gulf of Mexico Water to us. We, in turn, handed
off the German tourist to the folks from NJ, with the assurance that from
Perth Amboy, they'd direct him to the D&R Canal towpath.

He was never heard from again....

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 12:10:17 -0400,
wrote:


The Catskill Eagle wrote:
There used to be a ferry from Perth Amboy to Staten Island does anyone
know if this still exists?

Ed-The Catskill Eagle


Nope, it has been gone sice the 60's

wrote in message newsp.te2cq11iwbh310@dimension...
In 2000, the East Coast Greenway http://www.greenway.org/ organized the
Wave. Relay teams carried a bottle of water from the Gulf of Mexico to St
John, NB. At that time, the proposed ECG route assumed the crossing from
Perth Amboy to Tottenville for bicylists and pedestrians would be
restored.

Good to know that the bottle made it to past New Jersey. We carried the
bottle fron The Delaware Line to the New Jersey line;
http://www.billcotton.com/east_coast_greenway.htm Third picture from the
top.

The weather on the early Spring day the Wave crossed from NJ to NY was
sub-optimal: high 50's / low 60's with a light but persistant rain. The
three of us who'd agreed to carry the bottle by bike from Tottenville to
South Ferry met at South Ferry for the easy part of the trip: southbound
trip by ferry and SIRT. We knew each other, of course, but were surprised
to find a fourth cyclist waiting at the South Ferry terminal for the same
boat. Clearly, he was equipped for a journey.

After some wary NY-style eye contact, we got into conversation. He was a
German tourist and this was his first day on a westbound transcontinental
bike ride. Yep, he appeared to have the right clothes and gear, but his
map was a limited general roadmap. He assumed he'd be able to head west by
bike over the Outerbridge Crossing.

Well, our plan involved meeting a boat -- I don't know whether what we met
was anything similar to what was formerly in ferry service -- that was
sailing just that one time from Perth Amboy to Tottenville and back after
handing off the bottle of Gulf of Mexico Water to us. We, in turn, handed
off the German tourist to the folks from NJ, with the assurance that from
Perth Amboy, they'd direct him to the D&R Canal towpath.

He was never heard from again....

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 12:10:17 -0400,
wrote:


The Catskill Eagle wrote:
There used to be a ferry from Perth Amboy to Staten Island does anyone
know if this still exists?

Ed-The Catskill Eagle


Nope, it has been gone sice the 60's