MTR 274, FTA, NYC Reps on East Side Access: Good Project, Bad Financing

Mobilizing the Region
Issue 274 June 19, 2000

FTA, NYC Reps on East Side Access: Good Project, Bad Financing

At a hearing held this week for its draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), MTA's East Side Access project, the proposal to bring Long Island Railroad into Grand Central Terminal, drew wide-spread praise. However, the majority of speakers (including RPA, the Straphangers Campaign, Representative Carolyn Maloney and Senator Thomas Duane) raised deep concerns that the project would exacerbate already overcrowded conditions on the Lexington Avenue IRT. On this basis, they argued that without the simultaneous construction of the 2nd Avenue Subway, East-side Access could impede rather than improve mobility in the City.

The LIRR-GCT proposal also gained ground with the FTA. The project was given a "recommended" rating in the recently released Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) fiscal year 2001 "New Starts" report. The rating is a step up from the "not recommended" of last year (MTR #219), but is not the sought "highly recommended". The new status makes the project eligible, but does not guarantee, significant federal funding. MTA is asking for half the project's cost or $2.175 billion, but was allocated just $10 million for design work. The drag on the over-all FTA score came from two "medium" ratings for 'project justification' and 'finance'.

Good government groups, straphanger advocates, and NYC editorial boards alike have denounced the MTA's approved 2000-2004 capital plan funding scheme as too reliant on debt and likely to draw a massive fare increase (MTR #264-266). The plan's shaky financing also threatens to undermine the 2nd Ave. subway project, dooming Manhattan's East-side straphangers to an intolerable crush.

- DEIS Offers No Surprises -

The DEIS compares four alternatives - no build, Transportation Systems Management, and two tunnels. The tunnel options differ primarily in depth. The deeper option has several advantages over the shallower one and, as expected, was the preferred alternative (MTR #255). The deeper tunnel will not require the underpinning of buildings on Park Avenue or the Park Avenue tunnel through which Metro-North trains pass. Consequently, MNRR should not experience track outages and the cost of the project will be $400 million less than under the shallow tunnel scenario.

According to the DEIS, the new tunnel will allow the LIRR to run 24 more trains per hour into GCT during the peak period, plus the present service of 37 trains per hour to Penn Station. By 2010, 62,000 people will travel to GCT during the 4-hour weekday AM peak, while 45,700 fewer will ride to Penn Station than do today. Thus, the new tunnel is expected to create a net gain of 16,300 transit riders, reducing total daily vehicle miles traveled by about 342,000. Raising the possibility of even greater increases in regional service and ridership, Metro-North Railroad is exploring sending trains into some of the space freed up at Penn Station.

The DEIS also states that a station will be built at Queens Boulevard and Skillman Avenue, which may be used in the future as a connection between Amtrak, NJ Transit and the LIRR. This aspect of the proposal won support from SE Queens' Greater Jamaica Development Corporation as a way to expand the economic base of that part of the city.

Aside from riders facing crushing conditions on the subways, the New York & Atlantic railroad seems to face the greatest inconvenience from the preferred plan. NY&A operations will be displaced from Sunnyside Yards by LIRR's additional cars. According to the DEIS, NY&A will move freight facilities from Sunnyside to Blissville and either Maspeth or Fresh Pond.