Poor planning is the culprit, once again
A Brentwood truck-rail freight facility proposed by the state Department of Transportation would take more than 5,000 trucks off Long Island’s roads daily, cut travel delays, lower emissions, improve air quality and reduce shipping costs.
But it may never come to fruition. Many see it as a perfect example of Long Island’s inability to get things done.
As often happens, the project was attacked by local, directly affected communities. But before we blame narrow-minded NIMBYism, consider: We’re talking about a lot of trucks in a small area, bringing lots of noise, burning barrels of gas and spewing tons of emissions – in the middle of a groundwater protection area.
People will try to protect their interests – that’s not going to change. What needs to change, if we want regional progress, is the way agencies handle these projects.
