The unprecedented growth in our cities and suburbs over the last 25 years has outpaced the expansion of the supporting infrastructure. The ability to expand the transportation infrastructure to meet the ever increasing travel demands of the public has been and continues to be a major challenge of the latter part of the 20th century. Compounding the problem are increasing capital costs, decreasing public funds, and community opposition to the expansion of highways through developed corridors. This paper presents a case study of Route 347 in Suffolk County, New York, one of eastern Long Island's major transportation corridors connecting the suburban north shore with commercial and industrial centers to the west. It will examine travel behavioral characteristics and transportation habits of the suburban community, development trends over the past 25 years, the transportation philosophies of the municipalities through which it traverses, and the planning process. Additionally, it will discuss such innovative solutions to traffic congestion as: Travel Demand Management (TDM); downzoning; transfer of development rights; telecommuting/teleshopping; highway access management; and legislative solutions as they apply to future development and corridor traffic demand. (A)
Abstract