Latest report reveals parking could be added by Westbury train station
The prospect of longer, heated waiting platforms and noise-dampening walls in the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR)’s latest plans for a third track between Floral Park and Hicksville haven’t changed the misgivings several local officials have about details they consider lacking in the environmental impact study the LIRR issued last week.
And, the LIRR’s revelation in last week’s 21-chapter Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that the third track project would cost $2 billion—apparently double the cost since Gov. Andrew Cuomo championed the “billion-dollar project” last January—has cast more doubts on the project among officials in municipalities in the affected 9.8-mile corridor. The project’s price tag increase is due in part to the addition of noise buffering walls and elimination of grade crossings since Cuomo’s initial announcement of the project. The study states that project funding will come from the MTA and other state sources.
“Where in God’s name is the state going to get $2 billion? This is ridiculous,” said Garden City Mayor Nicholas Episcopia.
“We had a billion-dollar project. Now it’s a $2 billion project. And that’s before they put stuff on the ground,” said Floral Park Mayor Thomas Tweedy, a leader of the eight-person Mainline Mayors coalition.
Tweedy dismissed the three-year time frame the LIRR projects to eliminate the grade crossings and remained skeptical about any benefits from the third track. He’s concerned about a planned sound buffer wall to be nine feet high in some places as it passes Floral Park’s municipal pool and recreation fields and in close proximity to houses. Tweedy and Episcopia restated criticisms that, along with the grade crossings, the LIRR has fundamental problems with its antiquated switching system that should take priority over track expansion.
“That’s where the problem is, the switches east and west of Jamaica,” Episcopia said.
New switches and signals are among planned track infrastructure upgrades that Cuomo touted last week, along with new, longer platforms to accommodate full-length trains. Broader, heated platforms are planned for some stations.
“Where in God’s name is the state going to get $2 billion? This is ridiculous.”–Garden City Mayor Nicholas Episcopia.
Cuomo hailed the LIRR environmental impact report release, saying, “By increasing capacity on one of the LIRR’s busiest corridors and eliminating all street-level grade crossings, this project will result in less traffic, less congestion and a transportation network that meets the needs of current and future generations of Long Islanders.”
Cuomo has touted the need for a third track as a way to serve a growing ridership and provide service during service disruptions. The plan restates that no residential properties will be eliminated (a main point of contention when the plan was first proposed in 2008), as the third track would be laid north of the existing main line tracks in some areas and south of the tracks in others.
The report indicates only four commercial properties—two in New Hyde Park and two in New Cassel—will be taken to enable construction, along with portions of 10 other businesses.
Dave Kapell, executive director of the Right Track for Long Island Coalition said, “the transformative impact of this project will extend from every Long Island home to every business.”
At a village meeting last week, Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro, also a member of the Mainline Mayor’s coalition, said this plan was vastly different from the 2008 plan and that the governor was adamant about completing the project.
“I think overall, it’ll be a benefit to Long Island,” Cavallaro said. “Twenty years from now, there will be a third track. It’s going to happen. The question is, how do you implement it in the least impactful way possible?”
Parking was also addressed in the DEIS, with the study calling for six new parking garages near the New Hyde Park, Mineola, Westbury and Hicksville train stations, and one new surface 95-spot parking lot at 115 New Hyde Park Road in New Hyde Park, to ultimately create 2,257 additional parking spaces.
The grade crossings to be eliminated are at New Hyde Park Road on the border of New Hyde Park and Garden City; Covert Avenue and South 12th Street in New Hyde Park; Willis Avenue and Main Street in Mineola; and School Street and Urban Avenue in Westbury.
The village boards of Garden City and Floral Park have retained Manhattan-based law firm Beveridge & Diamond to fight the third track plan. Other affected municipalities may join in or are retaining separate counsel. Beveridge & Diamond represented the mayors’ coalition to help bury the third track proposal in 2008.
New Hyde Park Mayor Robert Lofaro wrote a letter to Cuomo last week requesting time beyond the current Jan. 31 deadline for public comment to be extended. The mayors agreed that the time frame to provide comment on the DEIS by the end of December is insufficient considering the document’s size.
“This project has been discussed, analyzed, and debated for decades, so I’m sure that a couple of extra months will not be too much of an ask,” Lofaro wrote.
The LIRR said they welcome feedback through the website, walk-in project office and at the upcoming information sessions.
“We will continue to meet with local officials to discuss the DEIS schedule and specific elements related to their communities. We also look forward to working with individual communities to schedule local working meetings to review the DEIS,” the LIRR said in a statement, adding that this was a longer time frame for public comment than many other larger projects including the Tappan Zee Bridge and Second Avenue Subway. “Project officials are offering unprecedented levels of public outreach and opportunities to learn about the extensive benefits a Long Island Rail Road Third Track will bring.”
Six public hearings on the draft environmental document are planned for January. The plan and the schedule of hearings are accessible online at www.amodernli.com.
