A new national study finds that cars sitting in the 50 worst traffic bottlenecks in the U.S. burn 35 million gallons of gas and produce 370,000 tons of carbon per year.
The study was released today by AAA.
Of the 50 worst bottlenecks, three of them are in the tri-state state area. They include the Cross Bronx, the Van Wyck, and the Long Island Expressways.
"And what happens is those roads, a lot of them lack shoulders, lack breakdown lanes," said Robert Sinclair, a spokesman for AAA. "And all it takes is one car to breakdown in the middle of traffic, to back traffic up miles and miles. A lot of these traffic jams average two to three miles in length."
Sinclair said it's essential to widen those roads.
Congress is currently negotiating an extension of the Highway Trust Fund, which goes to maintaining and improving roads and bridges throughout the country.
Sinclair said he wants the highway trust fund to include things like electronic signs that could route drivers away from bottlenecks.
