Tunnel Vision! MTA Abandons Misguided Plan to Run IBX on Part of Street – Streetsblog New York City

In this case, tunnel vision is a good thing.

The MTA no longer plans to hijack its future Brooklyn-Queens light rail project by moving part of it to the street, agency leadership announced Tuesday.

Instead, union leaders told reporters on Tuesday that they would heed warnings from outside advocates and consider building a tunnel under All Faiths Cemetery instead of running the Interborough Express through busy Middle Street. Village.

“We are looking at the tunnel on Metropolitan Avenue, which will allow us to avoid running on the street [Interborough Express] faster and more reliable,” MTA President of Construction and Development Jamie Torres-Springer told reporters during a press conference about the congested area in Queens.

“This will save each rider a few minutes and enable us to run a dedicated route from 14 kilometers, which brings us a lot of success.”

The route between Bay Ridge and Jackson Heights is now used by freight trains, but the MTA originally planned to avoid passing under the cemetery by running a light rail route at Metropolitan Avenue, 69th Street and 69th Place for two thirds. of the proverb.

Almost since the project was announced in 2022, transportation advocates have expressed concerns about the street routing plans, as part of the street was not guaranteed to receive a special area on the road separated from normal traffic . Advocates for the Effective Transit Alliance, which has made the case that street running could be avoided with the 515-foot-long tunnel, celebrated Tuesday’s news and vowed to continue to push for a cheaper option.

“We are pleased that the MTA made the right decision to build the tunnel through All Faiths Cemetery,” said ETA Executive Director Blair Lorenzo. “For the price of one, shorter tunnel, IBX riders will get faster, more frequent, and more reliable travel for decades to come. We will work to ensure that the MTA keeps its word and build a shallow tunnel, it’s cheap, but it’s an investment worth making.”

Currently, freight trains run under All Faiths Cemetery through a 520-foot tunnel, but the MTA has said it does not want to share the track with freight operations. With that in mind, Torres-Springer said the exact shape of the tunnel will be determined during an engineering study, but the department hopes there will be limited efforts to move the tunnel.

“We are looking at a shorter version of the tunnel, which could be an extension of the existing one, or it could be a new tunnel alongside it,” he said.

The engineering process should take about two years, as will an environmental assessment of the project’s potential impacts, the MTA said.

Officials on Tuesday showed exactly where the Interborough Express would stop in Jackson Heights — near the lot where the news conference was held. In the image below, the light rail platforms would go to the left of the freight line to allow for a transfer to the 74th St-Jackson Hts-Roosevelt Av light rail station:

The future of the IBX is far from over, however.

The MTA’s 2025-2029 capital plan, which would partially fund the project, currently costs $68 billion and is focused on the state of good repair work that agency leadership has emphasized is a must. to be done soon. The plan includes $3 billion for work on the IBX of $5.5 billion, most of which is listed as a commitment of $2.45 billion by 2029.

At least $33 billion of the capital plan is currently unfunded. Gov. Hochul, the main political assistant of IBX, recently threw cold water on the price of $ 68 billion – suggesting that parts of the planned capital project may exist.

Hochul, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins ​​and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie each have the power to reject the capital plan and send it back to the MTA for a cut by the end of the year with their positions on City Policy Review Board.

MTA leaders are taking a wait-and-see approach in responding to the governor’s comments — but they were upfront Tuesday about what it would mean if the plan was approved or not funded.

“We’ve been very upfront about saying that the first thing should be a state of repair, not allowing the existing system to continue to degrade or jeopardize the performance of the systems,” MTA CEO and chairman Janno Lieber said about the leaders. “There’s no question that expansion would be jeopardized because of the shortage. But the response to the proposal we’ve made has been so positive that we’re very optimistic about how things will go down in the future.” in a legislative session.”