From tri-borough to inter-borough: What about the Bronx?
BY ALIYA SCHNEIDER
While Queens and Brooklyn
residents dreamed of easier
public transit at the unveiling
of the Interborough
Express, Bronxites who know
the origins of the proposal
weren’t so impressed.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced
the Interborough Express
in her State of the State
address on Jan. 5 and directed
the MTA to begin an environmental
review. The project
would utilize the existing
Bay Ridge Branch freight rail
line, to connect Brooklyn and
Queens residents to up to 17
subway lines and the Long Island
Rail Road.
But what Hochul’s speech
and press release didn’t mention
is that the proposal had
already long existed as the
Triboro, which connected
the two boroughs to the east
Bronx.
The idea to utilize existing
freight lines as an outerborough
connecter for passengers
began in a 1996 report as
the “Triboro Rx,” which was
proposed by the non-profi t Regional
Planning Association
(RPA) connecting Bay Ridge
in Brooklyn through Queens,
across the Hell Gate bridge —
which connects Astoria and
Randall’s Island — through
the Bronx St. Mary’s Park
Tunnel, and ending up at Yankee
Stadium.
Another iteration was discussed
in 2013, which instead
ended in Hunts Point, but the
most recent proposal was published
in a 2015 RPA report,
which still began in Bay Ridge
but now ended up in Co-op
City. The project would modify
above-ground rails used by
freight trains in Brooklyn and
Queens, and Amtrak in the
Bronx, spanning 22 stations
across 24 miles.
The RPA estimated in 2016
that the project would initially
serve 100,000 daily riders
and cost between $1 and $2
billion.
The idea has also been
called the “Triboro X” or the
“X line.”
So why did the Triboro
become the Interborough?
Ultimately, the Penn Access
project gets in the way,
which is supposed to bring
three Metro-North stations
to the east and south areas of
the Bronx in fi ve years, connecting
those neighborhoods
to Penn Station, Westchester
and Connecticut.
The Bronx segment of the
latest Triboro proposal utilizes
the same Bronx route
The RPA’s 2015 Triboro proposal would connect all three boroughs, reaching Co-op City. Photo courtesy RPA
planned for Penn
Access, which is a
top-priority project
for Hochul and
the MTA, according
to MTA spokesman
Aaron Donovan.
He said the
Interborough route
planning will focus
initial attention
on upgrading
the Queens-Brooklyn
infrastructure
— which the MTA
owns the majority
of — without interfering
with the
Bronx Metro-North
expansion.
Amtrak, which
owns the Hell Gate
line being used for
the Metro-North expansion,
declined to comment,
deferring to the MTA.
The MTA controls 11 out of
14 miles of right-of-way currently
proposed for the Interborough
Express, according
to Maulin Mehta, RPA’s New
York director.
“We believe the reduced
constraints in moving on the
Brooklyn/Queens portion of
the project make it sensible to
begin with this portion fi rst,”
Mehta told the Bronx Times.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 16 JAN. 14-20, 2022 BTR
Could the Interborough
connect to the Bronx once
Penn Access is built?
Not easily.
On Jan. 22, 2020, the MTA
awarded Aecom $1.3 million
to conduct a feasibility study
for the Triboro after being
pressed by the RPA and more
than 20 elected offi cials in a
Sept. 25, 2019 letter to study
the idea. On June 11, 2019,
Brooklyn Assemblywoman
Latrice Walker proposed
a bill that
was co-sponsored
by Bronx Assemblyman
Michael Benedetto
also calling
on the MTA to study
the Triboro.
But the MTA
found there to be
engineering and operating
challenges
on the Triboro plan
north of Jackson
Heights because
of track capacity,
right-of-way availability
and land for
tracks to be built
on, according to
Donovan. There is
not enough space on
the Hell Gate Bridge
— utilized in all of
RPA’s iterations of the Triboro
— or Hell Gate Line to accommodate
trains operating every
5-15 minutes as envisioned by
the Interborough Express concept,
with existing Amtrak,
freight and the future Penn
Access Metro-North services
to .
For the Interborough Express
to connect with the
Bronx, there would likely
need to be a new bridge constructed
across the East River
parallel to the existing Hell
Gate Bridge, and a widening
of the existing Hell Gate line
through east Bronx property
acquisitions, Donovan explained
to the Bronx Times.
Is there hope for the
Bronx?
The Triboro proposal has
been discussed for more than
two decades.
Former MTA Director and
CEO Elliot Sander brought up
the 1996 idea in a 40-year plan
he presented at the Cooper
Union in 2008 before the recession.
And in 2012, then-Manhattan
Borough President Scott
Stringer, the former NYC comptroller,
advocated for the idea.
Now that at least part of the
idea is being seriously considered,
Bronx politicians are hoping
to get a seat at the table.
Benedetto, the Bronx assemblyman,
told the Bronx Times
he was “happily surprised”
by Hochul’s Interborough announcement,
seeing it as an opportunity
to connect the Bronx.
“When I heard it, the only
thing I could think of is that
there is hope here that the Triboro
will come to reality,” he
added.
State Sen. Jamaal Bailey
also expressed optimism the
route will include the Bronx in
the future.
“Expanding the Interborough
Express route into the
Bronx will be transformative
for our residents, many of
whom live in some of the most
transit-starved neighborhoods
in the city,” Bailey told the
Bronx Times.
Larry Penner, a transportation
historian who worked
for the U.S. Department of
Transportation Federal Transit
Administration Region 2
New York Offi ce for more than
30 years, questioned whether
the Triboro idea would ever
come to fruition in 2017, and
he holds the same view about
Hochul’s Interborough, saying
there is too much competition
for Federal Transit Administration
funds.
Penner said he estimates
the Interborough would cost
$2-4 billion, which would
rise to $3-5 billion as the Triboro.
He said Brooklyn and
Queens would be lucky to
see a shovel in the ground in
2030 for just a two-borough
plan.
Still, he felt Hochul’s announcement
was an inexcusable
diss to the borough.
A spokesperson for Hochul’s
offi ce declined to comment,
deferring to the MTA.
The recently announced Interborough Express for Brooklyn
and Queens excludes the Bronx. Photo courtesy MTA