Traffic on 3 LI highways getting worse
Credit: Newsday/Karthika Namboothiri
A holiday gift nobody wants: more congested roads
Anyone who has taken to the region’s roads recently would likely agree that traffic is getting worse again, a trend likely to continue during this holiday season. Now we have confirmation of what Long Island drivers have been experiencing, via the latest data that shows the region has lots of company in its congestion misery.
Traffic levels are up nationwide, and could soon surpass pre-pandemic levels. Total driven miles during spring 2024 saw the sharpest year-on-year spike since 2021, according to a recent report by transportation analytics firm StreetLight.
The Point analyzed traffic data on three of Long Island’s major roads, collected by the New York State Department of Transportation, and found that Long Island mirrors nationwide trends.
The Long Island Expressway is the busiest road on Long Island. An average of 184,984 vehicles traveled each day between exits 33 and 34, both on the westbound and eastbound lanes, in 2023, the latest data available. This was an increase of 2.6% since 2022, and very close to the pre-pandemic average of 185,670 vehicles in 2019.
The Southern State Parkway, meanwhile, recorded a sharper increase in traffic volume. An average of 173,471 vehicles a day in 2023 traversed the road around exit 19. Not only was the 2023 traffic volume 7.4% higher compared with 2022, traffic surpassed pre-pandemic levels of 172,762 a day in 2019. The 25.5-mile parkway is among the deadliest roads on Long Island.
The 28-mile Northern State Parkway saw an average of 142,120 vehicles each day move both ways between exits 26 and 27 in 2023, up 4.3% from 136,322 vehicles in 2022.
Since increasing traffic is known to add stress for drivers, it’s worth noting that the state’s new congestion pricing plan for driving into Manhattan’s business district is set to begin in January, with the intention of incentivizing commuters to skip their cars and take public transit. Whether the plan actually launches and whether it has the desired effect remains to be seen.
