By Bill Parry
Two senior Port Authority officials assured elected and community leaders at Borough Hall Monday that the traffic gridlock caused by the reconstruction of LaGuardia Airport is being addressed. Queens Borough President Melinda Katz requested a briefing after travelers were forced to leave vehicles and make a mad dash through traffic on foot in order to make their flights Aug. 22.
“There were some operational changes that were made,” Richard Smyth,project executive, LaGuardia Airport Redevelopment Program, said. “Once we got beyond the initial stumble, we have been able to maintain a clean operation.”
Smyth said the initial problem began with the reconfiguration of roadways especially at the 94th Street Bridge entrance to the airport. The traffic signal controls were not reset by the contractors.
“Once it went south it took us a couple of days to catch up,” Smyth said. LaGuardia Gateway Partners CEO Stewart Steeves blamed weather issues for creating unusually heavy volume at the airport that day, something that Smyth said he was not contradicting.
“There were storms that Sunday that caused over a hundred cancellations into Monday,” Smyth said. “Also that day there was a security breach. Also, Monday Aug. 22, is one of our busiest summer travel days of the year.”
To combat that perfect storm Aug. 22, the Port Authority and LaGuardia Gateway Partners are employing a new traffic mitigation plan with a mobile command station with 10 PA police officers with radios monitoring and managing traffic patterns. Shuttle services, alternative parking and a new cell phone lot have been established and the taxi stand has been moved away from the main terminal.
“All in an effort to get cars and shuttle buses away from the airport frontage so traffic doesn’t back up into the community,” LaGuardia Airport General Manager Lysa Scully said. There is also a comprehensive customer outreach program in place providing updates on changes to shuttle buses, MTA bus routes, roadway conditions and ground transportation, she continued.
“The message has gone out and that is don’t drive to the airport, and I think that message is working,” Smyth said. Community Board 3 Chairman Steve Kulhanek agreed that the airport needed to be reconstructed.
“But the impact falls directly in East Elmhurst and the relationship between LaGuardia, the Port Authority and the community is not the greatest,” he said. “I’ve watched as people use our neighborhoods for parking. East Elmhurst doesn’t exist to be annexed by the Port Authority. The complaints are real, It’s impacting our quality of life and it’s not fair. When does it stop?”
The two PA officials committed to a CB3 airport meeting in the near future. Scully placated some in the Borough Hall meeting room with a surprise announcement.
“We are hiring and bringing someone aboard in early October,” Scully said. “A community relations person who will be your point of contact ever day, all day, that will communicate with all the constituents about what’s happening.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
