Stop Cross Harbor!

In the same location that I once saw the image of the Incan warrior priestess above the LIE, near Junction Blvd., there was a sign on Sunday morning that read,

"If you think traffic's bad now, just wait. Stop cross harbor!"

"Yes, please!," I thought. But what could "cross harbor" be? A little Googling turned up a less-than-satisfactory answer. It seems that train service once existed that crossed the E. river at 43rd st (on the Manhattan side). Perhaps, if this sort of service were brought back, the railhead on the Queens sides would be near one of the LIE's worst traffic clinch points -- the Lefrack City/Junction Blvd. area.

Need more info.

Very Superstitious...

Behold, the Superstition Freeway! http://www.superstitionfreeway.com/

But I-60? What's it doing in Arizona!? It can't even carry hazardous cargo. Who's footing the bill for this one!?

The Superstition Freeway reconstruction newsletter suggests that it's all part of a modernization and "HOVization" of an area near I-10. Ah, I-10: the Christopher Columbus Highway! Now I get it -- anything for I-10!

According to the first edition of a newspaper ad that ran in local Tempe publications in late April 2001, The "massive renovation" of U.S. 60 will "challenge motorists to 'share the Supersitition' with highway builders for the next two years."

Freeway mythology is quite exciting. Arizona clearly has a lock on superstition, but perhaps we can lay claim to "the LIE." Will construction really be completed by December 2004, or is the NYDOT LIEing to us?

Also, what's the deal with adding HOV lanes? Why is that akin "modernization" in both Southern Arizona and Long Island? How and why are HOV lanes effective? Do they force the highway to occupy a larger footprint than it might if there were no HOV lane? Does it crowd out space that might otherwise be reserved for a shoulder? Who benefits from HOV lanes? Should there be a distinction between commuting corridors and routes that normally serve a more trans-national purpose? Do such routes even exist anymore? Does the installation of HOV lanes on a given highway signal a particular phase of a highway's life-cycle in which it makes a firm commitment to commuter-style use?