Previously Published in The Messenger
No, that is not a headline with political overtones. We mean that as literally as it sounds.
It’s no secret that the traffic congestion on Long Island is entering unfathomably irritating territory. Not only is it always busy at practically any time of day – save for the late, late hours – but it’s horribly congested. The worst we’ve seen is the cloverleaf interchange at Nicolls Road (CR-97) and the Long Island Expressway (I-495) during peak hours. The on-ramps and off-ramps are clogged and the traffic backs up for miles.
We’ve found that even if we give ourselves an extra ten or fifteen minutes to account for traffic, we still end up twenty minutes late at some places. Leaving earlier is a solution, but we find the roads are just so backed up that planning ahead doesn’t make a difference in most cases.
There’s little that can be done about this from a policy perspective. Pushing mass transit isn’t a bad idea, but Long Island’s infrastructure is so spread out that unless we were able to install a monorail that ran along the Expressway with stops at every exit with buses to greet us, we don’t see a scenario in which folks ditch the personal vehicles. Adding more lanes is always an answer – until it isn’t and eventually just exacerbates the problem. Paving new roads and bypasses is almost entirely out of the question, not only for likely uses of eminent domain – which can practically never be used without controversy – but also for how laborious of a process it would be.
The road network can’t be overhauled completely and no one can stop people from moving to Long Island. However, what we as individuals can improve is our own cognizance behind the wheel.
For starters, get out of the left lane!
Left-lane campers, as we affectionately refer to them, are drivers who insist on traveling in the lane classically designated as a passing lane, often driving under established speed limits and/or the flow of traffic. We’ve seen countless instances of interminable bumper-to-bumper traffic only to find that there is no accident or road work up ahead, it was just a left-lane camper that no one could overtake.
While some camp the left lane, others become enraged, often using the middle lane to speed up and pass to get ahead of the camper and put the left lane to good use, which makes it impossible for anyone else to switch lanes organically. The middle lane is now used for through-traffic, the left lane is for those who forget classic road rules, and the right lane is for everyone else in between.
It’s not just the Expressway. It’s Nesconset Highway (State Route 347). It’s Nicolls Highway. It’s Patchogue-Holbrook Road. It’s County Route 111 in Manorville. It’s Sunrise Highway. It’s the various parkways in western Suffolk.
The inevitable problem then becomes erratic lane-switching, inconsistent speeds, fast braking, risky maneuvers, and most importantly, no attention paid to the regular risks of the road. We’ve seen so many fly around left-lane campers in the middle lane only to narrowly miss a rear-end collision or a work site because the clearance of the middle lane wasn’t visible. As if the roadways weren’t bad enough, we don’t need more chaos.
Tractor-trailers and other large vehicles hogging the left lanes are also incredibly infuriating, as the billboarding effect from their large sizes only makes for a more visibly shut down scenario. Some states even have laws against truckers riding in the left lane unless absolutely necessary.
We don’t endorse anyone driving like maniacs just because some people drive obliviously. Two wrongs don’t make a right, especially on the highways.
What we do endorse, however, is be mindful of your surroundings and understand your place on the road for what you’re looking to accomplish. If you’re intent on keeping your speed below 50mph on the Expressway, more power to you, but that is not left-lane behavior, not by a long shot.
You’d be surprised by how much smoother traffic can flow when the rules that were once innately and widely understood are followed.