New York area travel bans lifted, mass transit resumes
NEW YORK -- Drivers are back on the roads in New Jersey, New York City and across most of New York after the winter storm that did not dump as much snow as feared.
Mass transit is up and running on nearly every line, though most are operating on a weekend schedule.
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Heavy snow and high winds pounded the New York area overnight as the storm brought the entire region to a standstill. Snowfall totals varied across the area, with some areas seeing as little as six inches while other were blasted by more than 20.
A blizzard warning was lifted in New York City, but remained in effect for Suffolk County, Long Island.
Air travel is slowly resuming at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey after hundreds of flights were canceled, and most flights remain canceled at LaGuardia and JFK airports in New York. Subway, bus and train service in New York has resumed and will operate on a Sunday schedule on Tuesday.
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NEW YORK
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City public schools will be in session Wednesday after students received a rare snow day Tuesday. The travel ban in the Hudson Valley (Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster, Westchester counties), Nassau County, and New York City is lifted, and I-84 as well as the Thruway have been reopened. Drivers should use extreme caution and prepare properly as driving conditions remain poor and other states still may have travel bans in effect.
Subway service is back, running the equivalent of Sunday service, which is about 60 percent of normal capacity. Subway will be back to a full weekday schedule Wednesday.
PATH service resumed at 9:30 a.m. on weekend schedule, Newark to World Trade Center and Journal Square to 33rd Street via Hoboken, operating every 15 minutes.
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LONG ISLAND
The travel ban has been lifted for both Nassau and Suffolk counties, and partial LIRR service has resumed. Service will remain suspended on the Montauk branch east of Babylon, from Greenport to Ronkonkoma, on the Port Jefferson branch east of Huntington and on the Oyster Bay branch. Roads remain treacherous, and customers are advised to avoid unnecessary travel.
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NEW JERSEY
New Jersey started digging out, roads reopened and mass transit started working to get back on schedule Tuesday as a winter storm that was predicted to bring several feet of snow to parts of the state fell short of predictions.
Gov. Chris Christie lifted the ban on travel statewide at 7:30 a.m., but he cautioned motorists to remain off the roads unless they had to travel.
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CONNECTICUT
The Connecticut travel ban was lifted at 2 p.m. Tuesday, one day after the state joined Suffolk County, Long Island, in bearing the brunt of the winter snowstorm. Gov. Dannel Malloy had previously lifted the ban in Fairfield and Litchfield counties, though residents are urged to limit travel and use common sense while driving.
Airlines begin digging out from storm in northeast
Lingering snow and subfreezing temperatures mean that travel delays in the Northeast will extend through Wednesday, even if the storm wasn't as bad as expected.
Airlines have already cancelled more than 500 flights for Wednesday, according to FlightAware.com. But that's a reprieve after more than 7,500 U.S. flights got scrubbed and another 3,100 ran late on Monday and Tuesday, mostly in the blizzard's path.
New York was spared the worst of the blizzard, but Boston was hit with more than two feet of snow. By Tuesday afternoon, airlines had already canceled one-fourth of the flights that would normally depart from Boston's Logan Airport on Wednesday, and subfreezing temperatures will mean tedious de-icing of the planes that do take off.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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