Airport Rail Program Dies, Friendless
Port Authority director George Marlin announced Wednesday that the plan to construct a 22-mile rail line from Manhattan's Upper East Side to LaGuardia and Kennedy airports in Queens was dead, a victim of steadily rising cost estimates. The Port Authority is now examining whether it can afford to enhance transit access to at least one of the airports by constructing some segment of the original plan. The agency reportedly has about $1 billion to spend. The latest cost estimates for the comprehensive plan had risen as high as $4 billion. The rail line would have run from a new Manhattan terminal along a right-of-way separate from other city and regional rail lines. The plan had drawn considerable opposition from Manhattan and Queens neighborhood groups concerned about siting, and from environmental and planning organizations seeking better integration with existing transit services. Marlin was concerned that as the project was built, the cost would grow even further, like overruns on recent large infrastructure projects like the English Channel tunnel and Denver's new airport. Queens Borough President Claire Shulman said the agency was walking away from the plan too quickly, but expressed preference for the Manhattan-LaGuardia segment if only a part of the line could be built. Another candidate segment would run from Jamaica station to Kennedy airport. Pataki Administration officials had expressed doubts about the project since coming to office last fall. NY Times, NY Newsday
