Chicago resident Brett gave himself an extra two hours to catch his flight back home Friday after he learned his lesson when he first flew into LaGuardia Airport earlier this week.
Brett: It took me longer to get from curbside to my car rental than my flight from Chicago. So I'd avoid it at all costs.
Tieu: That's about how long?
Brett: An hour-and-a-half.
Extra personnel are on-hand this peak travel weekend as new traffic patterns will begin on the Grand Central Parkway starting 6 a.m. Saturday. Drivers heading into the airport will be directed to two new exits.
But a preview of the congestion hit social media Thursday: fed up passengers were seen trekking the highway with suitcases in tow instead of sitting in standstill traffic.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the backups "unavoidable." In an interview on NPR Radio's All Things Considered on Friday, he addressed criticism for a lackluster traffic mitigation plan as the airport undergoes an $8 billion overhaul.
"There are certain practical realities. You need to operate an airport. You need to build a new airport, you need to do it on a tiny plot of land in a very high volume environment."
But transit advocates say the governor must find room for improvements and lead the group of state agencies involved in the effort.
"We believe with coordination, the MTA, and the Port Authority, and the SOT [Department of Transportation] running the highways in the streets surrounding can deliver a better bus service to the airport that will help people get out of cars and onto buses, and more efficiently arrive at the airport and cause less traffic," said Danny Pearlstein of transit advocacy group Riders Alliance.
Of the 30 million people who passed through the airport last year, only 10 percent of passengers used public transportation. A Riders Alliance study recommends prioritizing bus lanes and making LaGuardia shuttles free. Currently, only the Q70 LaGuardia link is free, through September 2.
"There has to be a way to move buses through that will help, hopefully, other people get on the bus as well and travel more efficiently to the airport," Pearlstein said.
Until then, he said, people will have to deal with nightmare traffic until the new LaGuardia is completely finished in about two years.
The question is, Can passengers wait that long without another traffic mitigation option? Transit advocates say no. The governor, meanwhile, says once the airport renovations are complete, it will be the first new airport in the United States in 25 years.