Good News for NY-NJ Motorists: Brooklyn-Bound SI Expressway to Open HOV Lane to Carpoolers

The Staten Island Expressway’s bus-only lane will open to cars with two or more occupants, Brooklyn-bound, from 6 to 10 a.m., starting this Monday morning, March 23.
The bus lane going toward New Jersey opened to HOVs last year, between the hours of 3 to 7 p.m. on weekdays, as a temporary measure to ease construction-related traffic from Verrazano work underway at the time. Now, the other side of the highway will open to carpools, to ease the morning rush hour commute. The Brooklyn-bound bus/HOV lane will be open on weekday mornings only and will be open to buses only at all other times.The state Department of Transportation will begin changing the signs above the lane tomorrow night to reflect the change. The new black and white signs will cost between $100,000 and $130,000.

Buses and cars can only enter or exit the bus/HOV lanes at Slosson Avenue or the Verrazano toll plaza.

The state DOT determined the presence of HOV cars in the bus lane wasn’t having an adverse impact on bus speeds, and was actually helping the flow of traffic in the general use lanes.

{SI Advance/Matzav.com Newscenter}