ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday called for the start of engineering work on the Interborough Express light rail line, as well as further extension of the Second Avenue Subway project, as part of the annual State of the State address.
Other transit-related aspects of the address included new measures to combat fare and toll evasion, and expansion of a pilot program to increase local hiring for major Metropolitan Transportation Authority construction projects.
The Interborough Express, which would be the first MTA light rail line, would be built along an existing freight-only Long Island Rail Road in Brooklyn and Queens route to connect LIRR passenger service and 17 subway lines. Light rail was chosen over heavy-rail and bus-rapid transit options early in 2023 [see “MTA to build first light rail line …,” Trains News Wire, Jan, 12, 2023]; the project’s first contract, for a consultant to conduct the environmental review, was awarded last summer. Hochul’s call means the MTA will now start engineering.
The Second Avenue Subway recently received federal funding to help pay for a planned three-station, 1.8-mil extension — a project currently estimated to cost $7.7 billion [see “New York’s Second Avenue Subway extension gets federal funding boost,” News Wire, Nov. 5, 2023]. But what Hochul has proposed is a further three-stop extension west along 125th Street, with stations at Lenox Avenue, St. Nicholas Avenue, and Broadway in Harlem, creating connections with seven existing lines. The governor’s office estimates this would serve 240,000 customers. As the website Gothamist reports, this project is years in the future, and carries an estimated $8.1 billion price tag.
Not surprisingly, MTA CEO Janno Lieber responded positively to both proposals.
“Gov. Hochul is MTA riders’ best friend.,” Lieber said in a statement, calling the announcement “a vote of confidence in the future of mass transit and of New York City. We look forward to charting the path forward for a potential future extension of Q service across 125th Street to serve upper Manhattan and the Bronx, and also to taking the next step on another transformative project by advancing design of the Interborough Express for Brooklyn and Queens.”
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