TRACKING A NEW IDEA
Ex-pol’s $2.2B plan: Existing rail line could aid Qns. nabes
A little-used stretch of train tracks in Queens could be the key to filling transit deserts in the borough, community leaders say.
The Long Island Rail Road’s Lower Montauk branch, which runs 8.5 miles between Long Island City and Jamaica, could be used to bring new passenger rail service to communities like Maspeth and Glendale, which do not have subway stops.
The LIRR ran commuter trains along the line until 1998, when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority closed its stops due in part to low ridership. Now, the tracks service freight trains and are used as an extra storage space for Sunnyside Yard.
The chief advocate of the project, dubbed the QNS, is former Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, a Queens Democrat. She commissioned an independent feasibility study in 2017, which was completed shortly after she left office in early 2018.
Crowley has recently renewed her push for the line — she hosted an event Friday to begin assembling a nonprofit to stump for the project.
Her proposal would bring nine stops to the stretch, and would cost an estimated $2.2 billion to pull off. The 2018 study projects that it would serve roughly 21,000 weekday riders.
“Queens is not getting its fair share of transit and local residents feel beyond frustrated with their daily commutes times,” said Crowley. “Trains would run on existing MTA-owned rights of way; the line could be used immediately without eminent domain.”
Crowley said the bulk of the upfront costs for the line would be paid for by selling off MTA air rights and tax schemes like transit-oriented development — and half of the money would go toward upgrading freight operations.
Because the MTA already owns the tracks, the project would cost $259 million per mile to complete. That’s a lot mile of the Second Avenue subway, which in 2017 had about 69,000 paying riders each weekday.
MTA officials say Crowley’s project may be too expensive for the number of riders it would serve.
“As the report notes, this proposal would pose serious and capital costs at a time of substantial deficits,” said MTA spokesman Max Young.
Community leaders and
advocates of the project disagree with that assessment, noting that the areas it will serve expect to boom in the coming years.
“Look at the growth in Long Island City and the growth in the Jamaica downtown area and at JFK Airport,” said longtime transportation consultant Philippa Karteron. “If we could put something like this together, the corridor could be an economic development corridor, bringing in businesses, bringing in jobs.”
Unlike the BQX, another Queens-oriented transit project, Crowley’s idea isn’t supported by real estate developers — she says she’s working to form a grassroots campaign that has community boards involved from the get-go.
“You just can’t get to some places in Queens without going into Manhattan and coming back out again,” said Dorothy Morehead of Queens Community Board 3. “That’s crazy. I think it (the line) would be very good for everybody.”
All of the community boards along the proposed route supported commissioning the study for the line — now Crowley says it’s just a matter of mustering support for additional transit in an area that’s relatively underserved by NYC Transit.
“The study showed robust ridership, with opportunity for job and housing growth,” said Crowley. “Far too many of the residents use cars and Ubers rather than public transit. The trains would reduce commute times and take cars off the road.”