New York City - Transit News

[chris08876]

Lots of gridlock expected tomorrow.

[chris08876]

DOT: NYC to Install Record Number of Protected Bike Lanes in 2015

Think DOT’s bicycle program has lost its mojo? Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg begs to differ, and she made her case today at an event highlighting bike projects that are now in progress or have recently been completed.

Last year, Bicycling Magazine named New York the best American city for biking, just nine months after Trottenberg took over at DOT. “We felt an obligation to double down on our efforts to encourage and support bicycling in New York City,” Trottenberg said at a press conference this morning touting the administration’s bike lane progress. “Expanding and upgrading the bicycle network is an important step.”

The city is on track to install 12 miles of protected bike lanes by the end of the year, above its five-mile annual target and the highest amount ever installed in a calendar year. The city has also surpassed 1,000 miles of bicycle facilities, DOT said, with 1,010 miles citywide.

DOT counts bike lanes on the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, W. 170th Street, Fort George Hill, Seaview Avenue, Edgecombe Avenue and Clinton Street toward its tally of protected lanes completed this year. Work on Queens Boulevard, Lincoln Square and First Avenue is expected to wrap by the end of the year. In addition, Pulaski Bridge and Bruckner Boulevard protected bike lanes, already under construction, are slated to open next year.

There’s no doubt that protected bike lane mileage is expanding at a healthy clip this year, but there are some asterisks.

Not all of these bike lanes are protected from car traffic by parked vehicles or concrete barriers. Some are separated from moving cars only by flexible posts. DOT also includes Vernon Boulevard, a two-way bikeway from 2013 that received concrete barriers this year, and E. 37th Street, which was striped last November, in its totals for this year.


While its progress on protected bike lanes is encouraging, DOT’s overall bike lane numbers are less robust. The agency has installed 27 miles of bike lanes so far this year, Trottenberg said, 23 miles short of its 50-mile annual goal.

The 1,000-mile bicycle facility number includes “shared and signed routes” like sharrows, extra-wide parking lanes and signed routes, which account for 24 percent of the total.

Another third of the total is managed by the Parks Department, said Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, including everything from major greenways to boardwalks and dirt trails. Much of these off-street paths are high-quality bikeways, but the Parks Department doesn’t manage them as transportation routes, meaning they tend to be closed at night.

[...]

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http://www.streetsblog.org/2015/09/2...lanes-in-2015/

[chris08876]

Here’s What the G Train Could Look Like If It Went Into Manhattan

Considering it’s taken the city nearly 100 years to get the Second Avenue Subway moving and that the MTA is over its head in debt, we’re not holding our breath that any other major expansion work will take place in the system, but we can all dream, right? Take for instance these new maps created by cartographer Andrew Lynch as part of his Future NYC Subway series. He envisions the G train, which currently only connects Brooklyn and Queens, making two loops into Manhattan — one Downtown and one in Midtown. As Curbed notes, “It’s a slightly convoluted proposal,” but Lynch clearly put a lot of thought into his scheme, even figuring out the tunnels and connection points the train would take.

The Downtown loop would take the G train’s current Brooklyn route then head into Manhattan using the N, R tunnel. When it reached Manhattan, it would use the same Centre Street tracks as the J and Z trains, but to head back to Brooklyn, Lynch proposes a new East River tunnel under the Williamsburg Bridge (which he cites as a great way to alleviate overcrowding on the L train). It would also require a new platform and track be built at the abandoned trolley terminal at the Essex-Delancey station.

The Midtown loop would connect to Manhattan via the current end of the line at Court Square in Long Island City, through the E and M train tunnels. Once in Manhattan, the train would use the A, C, E tracks and connect to the downtown loop at an expanded Houston Street station.

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http://www.6sqft.com/heres-what-the-...nto-manhattan/

[shadowbat2]

NJ Transit agrees to lead environmental review for Hudson tunnel project

http://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-t...ject-1.1423177

NJ Transit has agreed to lead the environmental review necessary to build a new tunnel under the Hudson River, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Thursday. Amtrak will perform preliminary engineering on the project, and the U.S. Department of Transportation will speed approval of environmental permits, Foxx said.

The announcement is an important step forward for a project that has remained stalled since 2010, when Governor Christie cancelled a previous effort to dig a tunnel. The new project is expected to eventually double train service between New Jersey and New York, and to cost around $20 billion.

“Secretary Foxx remains committed to working with leaders in New Jersey and New York to move this project forward, and views this project as a national priority,” said Jon Romano, a spokesman for Foxx.

Related: Christie, Cuomo ask Obama to pay for half of Hudson River rail tunnel

The cost of the environmental review and engineering work has not yet been determined, said Nancy Snyder, a spokeswoman for NJ Transit. Obtaining an environmental permit to build such a large project often takes two to three years and includes public hearings, an air quality analysis and a wetlands study, Snyder said. It was not clear Thursday whether this timeline reflects Foxx’s promise to speed the approval process.

NJ Transit was the lead agency in a previous project to build a Hudson River tunnel, which was named ARC. The agency already has given the geotechnical data it developed for that project to Amtrak, which has preliminary plans for a new tunnel that would follow much the same path as ARC. NJ Transit and Amtrak continue to negotiate other issues surrounding a new tunnel, Snyder said.

In addition to its permitting help, Foxx promised during a breakfast of business leaders in New York on Thursday that his agency will help New Jersey, New York State, the Port Authority and the MTA to find grants and other sources of federal funding to help pay for the project.

“The secretary had a very productive meeting today with business leaders in the New York region,” Romano said. “The one thing he heard loud and clear from them was their interest in seeing this project move forward.”

Email: maag@northjersey.com

[chris08876]

The Highline has Nothing on Jersey City’s New Pedestrian Bridge

It’s been mentioned time and again: Jersey City residents are fed up with traffic and unreliable mass transit between Northern NJ and Manhattan. Most feel that having an option to get from Jersey City to Manhattan by bike or foot would be a wonderful and much needed transportation addition. Kevin Shane also felt this way so he decided to conceptualize a pedestrian bridge from Jersey City to Manhattan.

To get started, Shane met with neighbors, bridge engineers and builders, government officials and other experts to discuss his idea and gather feedback. Along the way, he was introduced Jersey City architect Jeff Jordan. They joined forces and created beautiful renderings that depict Liberty Bridge, a pedestrian footbridge from Jersey City to Battery Park. The bridge caters to commuters with an express walking lane and separate bike lane. Other highlights include providing a 200+ foot view over the Hudson and having the bridge be home to retail spaces, artwork, solar panels, benches, free wifi access, and more.

Rising from the abandoned ruins of the Pennsylvania Railway Embankment in Downtown Jersey City, the Liberty Bridge would extend up and over the Hudson River and into Lower Manhattan. Accessed by foot or bike, the bridge would provide an elevated park experience with unprecedented access and views of both cities for commuters, residents and tourists alike.

The bridge is envisioned as a pair of interwoven paths contained within a box truss frame. The paths are unique in their use and materiality with concrete handling direct, express movement for commuters and wood accommodating more leisurely outings. The paths are woven together horizontally and vertically with their relationship to each other reinforcing their use. The lower level concrete path is partially protected from the elements by the upper level wood path to help facilitate more pleasant, weather protected commuting. Meanwhile, the more exposed wood path takes advantage of dramatic views and an outward focus. Strips of vegetation and integrated seating would provide inviting buffers between the mixed uses while intermittent cafes and shops would generate additional vitality. The result is a 5,000 foot long, 200 foot high pedestrian park linking two great cities.

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http://jerseydigs.com/the-highline-h...strian-bridge/

[ardecila]

Beautiful idea, but god what a waste of money. If it could be built with sponsorships and donations like the High Line, I'm all for it... if it's public dollars, then they should be sunk into rail tunnels instead.

Unfortunately the pedestrian bridge idea would only appeal to the young and able-bodied, and even then it would be a miserable crossing in the winter.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Beautiful idea, but god what a waste of money. If it could be built with sponsorships and donations like the High Line, I'm all for it... if it's public dollars, then they should be sunk into rail tunnels instead.

Unfortunately the pedestrian bridge idea would only appeal to the young and able-bodied, and even then it would be a miserable crossing in the winter.

agreed, use the money to build that to pay for a couple feet of boring a new 7 train or L train tunnel.

also, don't forget capt. sully needs elbow room to land those planes!

[mrnyc]

after 9yrs of annoyance - say goodbye to taxi tv - yay!

http://nypost.com/2015/10/12/taxi-tv...st-thankfully/

[mrnyc]

ny state and city come to a $26B funding agreement for mta. this includes extending 2nd ave subway phase II to harlem, a new metrocard fare system, yadda:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/10/...o-mta-funding/

[ardecila]

Phase II of the SAS (north into Harlem) actually has a lot of the tunnels already built from the aborted attempt back in the 70s. Pretty much just the stations and the branch down 125th need to be built.

Also the storage track, since the full SAS plan includes no railyard to store and maintain the trains, and there's really no place in Manhattan to put a railyard.

[aquablue]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

ny state and city come to a $26B funding agreement for mta. this includes extending 2nd ave subway phase II to harlem, a new metrocard fare system, yadda:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/10/...o-mta-funding/

looks good. About time the old metrocard was upgraded to Oyster standards.

Once the second avenue subway is complete, the city can begin to look at regional rail improvements. Such as a new loop line around the City.

[mrnyc]

^ unfortunately the second ave subway wont be complete in our lifetimes. thats only for phase II up to 125th st/harlem. there are two more much longer phases to go to bring it downtown to hanover square.

there are three loop possiblities. an inner loop, which is the g train idea you see on the above thread. a bit further out the 'triboro rx' plan serves as something of a loop. and finally, if the new lga airtrain is ever connected to jamaica station and the jfk airtrain, that would serve as something of an outer loop. all of these are doable while 2nd avenue construction plods along. in fact, i would guess one or more of them will be done before 2nd ave is ever completed. at least i would hope so!

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Phase II of the SAS (north into Harlem) actually has a lot of the tunnels already built from the aborted attempt back in the 70s. Pretty much just the stations and the branch down 125th need to be built.

Also the storage track, since the full SAS plan includes no railyard to store and maintain the trains, and there's really no place in Manhattan to put a railyard.

i wondered about that - thx! it looks like only bits&pieces of cut&cover digging is needed, no tbm. thats good news for sure.

[scalziand]

Those 'bits' are mostly the station caverns though, which are the most complicated/expensive parts.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by scalziand

Those 'bits' are mostly the station caverns though, which are the most complicated/expensive parts.

true, but at least it seems they don't need to get a tbm, which is also a huge expense.

it ain't cheap no matter how you look at it, but it looks like could be a lot worse if they had to start from scratch.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by scalziand

Those 'bits' are mostly the station caverns though, which are the most complicated/expensive parts.

If that map is accurate (not sure it is), then the stations will be built with cut and cover entirely and not mined. That should make them somewhat cheaper, and I don't think you can call it a cavern if it's excavated from above.

They're at a shallower depth than the stations in Phase I, and in soft soil instead of rock, which changes the construction methods (125th/Park will be in rock, though).

Lastly, I don't know if the Harlem stations will have the same level of BS that the UES stations did. Wealth levels fall off dramatically north of 96th, and I'm not sure the residents in Harlem will be as lawsuit-happy as the Upper East Siders.

[yankeesfan1000]

While Phase 2 is nice, having the SAS from 125th all the way down to 42nd seems absolutely imperative with East Midtown Rezoning looking like it's going to get approved by the City Council. The 4-5-6 line already carries more people on its own than any other subway system in the country by a fairly wide margin, and with millions of square feet of new office space likely to be built as a result of East Midtown Rezoning, I just can't see how this works.

[mrnyc]

^ i believe phase III is to take it 6 stations south from 63rd st to houston street, so even better.

then the final phase IV goes 4 more stations south to the hanover square finish line.

of course, even after that the northern end should be extended west crosstown along 125th. the growth in the city and manhattan will likely be stunning by that far flung time, so no doubt it will be sorely needed.

[BrownTown]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

^ i believe phase III is to take it 6 stations south from 63rd st to houston street, so even better.

Yes, but that is a pipedream at this point. Nobody is even talking about it realistically. It's FAR more expensive than Phase II.

[yankeesfan1000]

All true, but Phase I is 2 miles long, and will have taken 10 years to finish when it's all said and done. Phase 3 is double that, and even though Phase 2 is mostly cut and cover, the MTA won't start construction for a few years, so Phase 2 is probably another 7-10 years away from being done, and then after that the MTA can start Phase 3. So realistically, early 2020's for Phase 2 opening, and another 10-15 years for Phase 3.

All the while, London's Crossrail is 73 miles, for $20B, all done in 12 years of construction. It's not a comment against you, but I would honestly have preferred some serious effort to reign in costs before the MTA take on any more major projects.