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MTA funding shortfall delays LIRR project

July 11, 2008

Dramatic MTA funding shortfalls will likely delay the Long Island Rail Road’s controversial plan to establish a third track along a heavily trafficked 10-mile section of its main line between Hicksville and Floral Park, railroad president Helena Williams said yesterday.

Williams stressed that the so-called “third track” project remains a vital part of the railroad’s planned eventual connection with Grand Central Station.

“A third track on the main line will always be something we’re committed to,” she said. “It remains a priority.”

Williams favors delay of the estimated $1.5-billion third track project over a stall in completion of the LIRR/Grand Central link - also known as East Side Access - by 2015. The cost of that immense undertaking has ballooned from $6.4 billion to $7.2 billion in the past year alone, officials said.

Williams called her decision “a reordering of priorities” driven by rising construction costs and the defeat in Albany of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion-pricing plan, which would have helped the Metropolitan Transportation Authority fund its capital projects.

She would not speculate on how long the third track project may be delayed. While the project had no set start date, it had an estimated completion date of 2018 or 2019, Williams said.

Praised by transportation advocates for its ability to serve a growing number of reverse commuters, the project has been reviled by many homeowners in the area who fear their property could be among up to 91 affected parcels. The railroad has not released a list of those properties.

Williams said she will ask the LIRR Committee of the MTA board on Wednesday for $100,000 to fund a study of less costly measures that can help with capacity until a third track can be constructed. She was unable to give examples of any cheaper methods, but said the study will look at “track, train, platform and signal options that might be used.”

Unlike a third track, none of those options will impact any properties, she said.

A third track is intended to create a “passing lane” for express trains and around disabled trains along the heavily used 10-mile stretch from Hicksville to Floral Park. An additional track will become even more vital to the LIRR in 2015, when the railroad plans to run up to 24 additional trains into Grand Central during peak hours.

MTA officials say the East Side Access project remains a priority. Last week, the first of two 200-ton tunnel-boring machines completed a journey of more than a mile through the bedrock beneath 63rd Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan to the home of its new station under Grand Central. The other boring machine is expected to catch up by the end of the summer.

Earlier this year, the LIRR submitted a copy of its plans for the third track - and a list of which properties would be affected - to the Federal Transit Administration for approval. The transit administration and the LIRR have refused to release a copy of that document, and Williams’ decision yesterday will not affect their refusal.

In a sign of financial pressure, the MTA board currently is considering delaying $2.7 billion worth of other projects in its current capital plan. On the operating side, dwindling revenues from real estate taxes it receives have prompted the MTA to ponder another fare increase, just months after fares rose 4 percent.

Capital plans traditionally run in five-year cycles, with the next plan running from 2010 to 2014. Williams said it’s unlikely that $1.5 billion for the third track project will be available in the upcoming plan, especially with about $3 billion in funds needed to complete East Side Access.

Williams said about $6 million has been spent so far on third-track planning.

WHAT THE DELAY MEANS TO YOU

Trackside property owners

Homeowners and businesses with property along the main line from Hicksville to Floral Park have bought some time.

The LIRR won’t say how long the project could be delayed, but it probably has been postponed for several years.

Though the project never had a start date, it had a rough completion date of 2018 or 2019. The LIRR has said the plan could affect up to 91 properties.

It has not publicly identified any of those homes or businesses.

LIRR riders

If the East Side Access project is completed, the LIRR says riders still can expect to catch a train into Grand Central by 2015, shaving crosstown commuting time off the schedules of those who work on Manhattan’s East Side. But pushing back the third track project means that the best solution to main line delays won’t be realized for some time. The LIRR plans to explore other ways to address the issue, but said there’s no substitute for a “passing lane” for express trains or around disabled trains.

The third track

The “third track” project along the LIRR’s main line, from Hicksville to Floral Park, would eliminate or separate grade crossings in New Hyde Park, Mineola and Westbury. Delay of the $1.5 billion project means that homeowners and businesses with affected properties along the 10-mile stretch have bought some time.

Source: Newsday

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Written by NY Politics · Filed Under Transportation 

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