New York may soon pass Los Angeles to become gridlock capital of the country

Heading to work on Long Island Expressway through Queens seems like a full-time job.

New York City is on a highway from hell, poised to creep past Los Angeles for a dubious honor: the country's gridlock capital.

The New York-New Jersey metro area has been deemed the second most congested in the U.S. - and the slow-speed gap with smogged-and-clogged L.A. is narrowing, a new report on highway travel reveals.

"The level of congestion in New York is worsening at a faster rate than L.A.," said traffic expert Sam Schwartz, who writes the Daily News' Gridlock Sam column.

"If this continues, within one year we very well may be the most congested city in America."

Even though L.A. is the most jammed-up city, New York has the most maddening corridor - an 11.3-mile stretch that includes the westbound Cross Bronx Expressway and the George Washington Bridge, according to the report.

During a Friday rush hour, it can take a wheel-clenching 63 minutes to cover the blacktop, slower than the pace of a top marathoner.

"It's a nightmare up here," Bronx delivery driver Joe Bux, 64, said of the Cross Bronx.

The eastbound Long Island Expressway near Maurice Ave. in Queens was judged the second-worst highway drive in the city.

"If you try driving after 3 p.m., you can expect to be sitting in traffic for hours," said William Shepard, 22. "It feels like a part-time job sometimes."

The Cross Bronx westbound at the Bronx River Parkway was labeled the worst bottleneck in the country, with an average speed of 11.3 mph when traffic is heavy.

"It's best to avoid these highways altogether," said Jose Luis Valdez, 64, a retiree.

The Van Wyck Expressway. (DelMundo for News)

The data come from the 2010 National Traffic Scorecard compiled by INRIX, a technology and traffic information company based in Washington State.

It calculates travel times using anonymous Global Positioning System devices.

The New York region's congestion was equal to 86% of that experienced by L.A. drivers in 2009, but rose to 99% last year, the report shows.

Schwartz said that may be the downside of an improving economy.

The number of vehicles using the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's nine bridges and tunnels started to pick up during the second half of last year, he said.

"I think more people are working, more people are spending money and more people are traveling," Schwartz said.

But the large number of "patchwork" repair projects along highways that need more extensive overhauls are a significant drag on travel times, Schwartz said.

The state Department of Transportation, which is in charge of the highways, had no immediate comment.