New York City - Transit News

[mrnyc]

you can never have wide enough sidewalks —


https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1fKl...RlODBiNWFlZA==

[mrnyc]

critics complain queens bus route redesign removes stops —





MTA’s Queens bus network redesign plan comes under fire by transportation advocates

By Iryna Shkurhan
Posted on January 8, 2024


Advocates standing up for elderly, disabled and low-income bus riders brought up several issues with the MTA’s proposed plan to redesign the entire Queens bus network during a virtual meeting held by a transit advocacy group on Thursday.

About a dozen participants who familiarized themselves with the MTA’s $30 million bus plan, which was unveiled in December, say that its proposed removal of over a thousand bus stops will hurt riders. While the MTA hopes to give riders faster and more consistent service, while also combatting low ridership, advocates argue that it has failed to consider vulnerable groups.



more:
https://qns.com/2024/01/mta-queens-b...an-under-fire/

[mrnyc]

also queens — calming the boulevard of death —




Queens Boulevard in Woodside to undergo $23.75 million revamp

Dec. 22, 2023 By Anthony Medina


Queens Boulevard in Woodside is about to undergo a $23.75 million overhaul thanks to a federal grant that Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday.

The hefty grant will primarily go toward safety improvements along the boulevard from Roosevelt Avenue to 73rd Street. The project will include the construction of new medians; the creation of a landscaped pedestrian mall with seating; improved accessibility to bus stops; as well as protected bike lanes, among other upgrades. Construction is expected to begin in fall 2024 and end sometime in 2027.

The federal funds come to the city via the “Safe Streets and Roads for All” program, which was established by Congress through the Infrastructure and Jobs Act.


more:
https://sunnysidepost.com/queens-bou...million-revamp



Renderings of safety upgrades to come to Queens Boulevard, from Roosevelt Avenue to 73rd Street, through the federal “Safe Streets and Roads for All” grant award. Photo courtesy New York City Department of Transportation

[mrnyc]

major flushing main st station improvements —



Queens officials celebrate completion of renovation project at Flushing-Main Street subway station

By Rachel Butler
Posted on November 28, 2023


The improvements, which took nearly two years to complete, consisted of the replacement of eight staircases and installation of eight new ones, the addition of four new points of entry to the station and the creation of two new fare control areas.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said that the expansion was one of the largest modernization projects undertaken by the MTA.

“Installing new staircases, creating new entries and expanding the mezzanine improves the passenger flow and provides a safer, more comfortable commute,” Lieber said. “This project – delivered on time and under budget — shows the MTA’s commitment to rebuilding a system to better serve today and tomorrow’s ridership.”


more:
https://qns.com/2023/11/flushing-mai...ions-complete/

[Randomguy34]

$8.1 billion for a 1.3 mile, three stop extension is absurd. It's actually a 0.9 mile extension since phase 2 of the 2nd Ave Subway will have ancillary tracks going all the way to 2/3 trains anyway. New record for most expensive subway project

Gov. Hochul wants to extend 2nd Ave. subway to West Harlem

Hochul will make the announcement as part of her State of the State address Tuesday afternoon, marking the start of a new, expanded vision for the still-nascent Second Avenue train line first opened on the East Side in 2017. If completed, new stations would be built at Lenox Avenue, St. Nicholas Avenue and Broadway.

The westward expansion would be years away and comes with an estimated price tag of $8.1 billion, which includes the cost to buy a new fleet of trains. Hochul’s support comes before construction has even started on a separate, $7.7 billion extension project on the Second Avenue subway that is expected to take eight years to complete.

https://gothamist.com/news/gov-hochu...to-west-harlem

[k1052]

The transfer stations are going to be crazy expensive, even by NYC standards, because the MTA refuses to deal with their design and cost problems.

For $8B+ the line should reach Hackensack.

[Busy Bee]

Yeah for that kind of money we should be talking about a Hudson tunnel to Fort Lee.

[homebucket]

Crazy. Makes me shudder at the thought of how much a Second Transbay Tube with Geary-19th Ave Subway would cost. Probably upwards of $50 billion.

[Busy Bee]

These numbers are not normal.

[Busy Bee]

According to Hochul’s office, the MTA will immediately launch what’s known as a “feasibility study” to determine whether the western expansion is even possible. That study will also look at whether it would be possible to do some of the tunnel boring during Phase 2 construction, a move the governor’s office estimates could save up to $400 million.

What makes me shudder beyond the grotesque cost estimate is that the MTA wasn't already "sketching" this for years, no decades, and they had to wait for the whim of a politician to seriously study it. Unreal. If there is a less ambitious, less imaginative alpha city transit agency on planet earth, show me.

[mrnyc]

at least she will be putting the obvious out there.

making it happen is another thing.

a very, very, very another thing.

[TowerDude]

The Second Avenue Subway Extension West should go all the way to the Empire Line to connect to a future Metro North Station at 125th Street.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

The Second Avenue Subway Extension West should go all the way to the Empire Line to connect to a future Metro North Station at 125th Street.

If the plan is to go all the way to Broadway to connect with the 1 then it's already basically there. Given the size of the mezzanines MTA is building on the regular a walking connection to a 125th St. MNRR station would likely be pretty short.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

$8.1 billion for a 1.3 mile, three stop extension is absurd. It's actually a 0.9 mile extension since phase 2 of the 2nd Ave Subway will have ancillary tracks going all the way to 2/3 trains anyway. New record for most expensive subway project

Gov. Hochul wants to extend 2nd Ave. subway to West Harlem

https://gothamist.com/news/gov-hochu...to-west-harlem

If you're going off track length, the Phase 3 has a bit more since it also includes a tail track east of Broadway to turn trains, also it seems to include a tail up Frederick Douglass Blvd to connect with the 8th Ave Line and the Concourse Line around 145th St.

I'm not sure what that gets you besides a connection to a northern yard. Seems like it would be hard to add a new service using that connection until they extend the 2nd Ave Line south of 63rd.

[mrnyc]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C18cV...RlODBiNWFlZA==

[TowerDude]

Regarding the Bronx ... any N/W Train extension to LaGuardia Airport should also include the capability to eventually be sent north to The Bronx to connect to one of the Metro North Stations on the Hell Gate Line.
Probably the Hunts Point Station.

[Gantz]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

Regarding the Bronx ... any N/W Train extension to LaGuardia Airport should also include the capability to eventually be sent north to The Bronx to connect to one of the Metro North Stations on the Hell Gate Line.
Probably the Hunts Point Station.

If they make that extension to the Bronx, it wouldn't be the N train. Probably a light rail line like an AirTrain to connect to MetroNorth, running next to the elevated N train tracks.
No idea why it takes them so long to run N train to LaGuardia. 19th Avenue is very industrial and desolate, no issue of having an elevated track along that road.

[TowerDude]

Originally Posted by Gantz

If they make that extension to the Bronx, it wouldn't be the N train. Probably a light rail line like an AirTrain to connect to MetroNorth, running next to the elevated N train tracks.
No idea why it takes them so long to run N train to LaGuardia. 19th Avenue is very industrial and desolate, no issue of having an elevated track along that road.

I'm talking about a tunnel under the East River. to Hunts Point. So one of the N or W trains would continue on to LaGuardia while the other goes down to surface level instead of turning at the 31st street curve and then a tunnel to go alongside the Hunts Point Metro North station.

Maybe have an elevated wye so that the southbound subways from Hunts Point can go to LaGuardia on occasional runs.

[mrnyc]

^ the pa would likely want the n/w connection to lga to be an airtrain.

[mrnyc]

this is great news for downtown brooklyn —




City completes ‘transformative’ new busway on Brooklyn’s Livingston Street

By Ben Brachfeld
Posted on January 10, 2024


The city’s Department of Transportation has finished building a new busway on Livingston Street in Brooklyn, aiming to speed up several routes that use the Kings County thoroughfare.

The Downtown Brooklyn east-west street previously hosted two-way motor vehicle traffic with set-aside bus lanes, but now hosts one-way westbound traffic to make space for two directions of physically-separated red lanes exclusively for use by city buses. The street is used by four bus lines — the B41, B45, B67, and B103 — which collectively serve 50,000 riders daily, according to DOT, and all putter along at slow speeds as they get stuck in traffic and behind double-parked cars.

The new busway is separated from motor vehicle traffic by a concrete island where riders can board eastbound buses, preventing cars from blocking bus traffic.


more:
https://www.amny.com/new-york/brookl...ngston-street/


A B41 bus stops for passengers at an island platform on the new Livingston Street busway.
NYC DOT