Local Officals Push For Elmhurst LIRR Stop
The Elmhurst neighborhood in Queens is one of the fastest growing areas in all of New York City. Every time I turn around, I see buildings being renovated or new ones built. I am not the only one who has noticed as residents & local officials have as well which is why they are pushing for the MTA to build a station there. Christopher Barca of The Queens Chronicle has more:
As new residential buildings rise at a breakneck pace along Queens Boulevard — along with the population of Elmhurst as a whole — area leaders say the need for a Long Island Rail Road stop in the community is greater than ever.
But when rivets will actually meet the beams there isn’t so black and white.
The MTA originally earmarked $40 million in construction costs for a new Elmhurst LIRR stop in its 2015-19 capital plan, released four years ago. However, a budget amendment filed in 2017 slashed that to just $3 million for preliminary design and environmental review.
Meanwhile, a number of new, large-scale residential structures have either been built, are under construction or are planned for the neighborhood.
And according to Newtown Civic Association President Tom McKenzie, the M and R subway lines can no longer handle the area’s booming population.
“The trains are already so overcrowded by the time they get to Elmhurst. In the 1960s, the subways were crowded. And the population has doubled since then,” McKenzie told the Chronicle on Monday. “If you have the LIRR, maybe people will spend an extra dollar or two just to get a seat and have some comfort.”
Service on the Port Washington branch of the LIRR is something the neighborhood hasn’t seen since 1985, when the station on Broadway at Cornish Avenue was closed and razed.
And in the decades since, state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing) said, residents have been left cramming onto packed subway cars or praying their bus arrives on time.
Given Elmhurst’s location at the western end of the line, Armaghan said, any work would need to be done specifically in conjunction with the East Side Access project — connecting the LIRR to Grand Central Terminal — Amtrak’s rebuilding of its East River tunnels and the Port Washington Yard Track extension plan, among others.
However, a government source said that planning and development of an Elmhurst station could begin as early as next year.
Meanwhile, Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) said Monday he is holding out hope that design will get underway relatively soon.
Click here for the complete article.
The area is definitely on the upswing & it would make sense to consider adding a reasonably cost effective station there. Hopefully the agency can get the ball rolling on the project as soon as possible.
xoxo Transit Blogger
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment