The cost of reactivating the Rockaway Beach Branch has exploded since original estimates of the project due to deteriorated conditions along the dormant rail line.
MTA releases a preliminary report on the
Rockaway Beach Branch reactivation project
BY BILL PARRY
A long-dormant rail link
between Rockaway Beach
and the rest of Queens is getting
a new look after the MTA
released a preliminary study
that was supposed to be made
public last year.
The costs of reactivating
the old Rockaway Beach
Branch, which was closed
back in 1962, have skyrocketed
enormously since its
original price tag of $250
million was estimated by
the MTA back in 2001. The
report shows that the cost of
connecting the RBB to the
Long Island Rail Road would
cost an estimated $6.7 billion
while a connection to NYC
Transit would be even higher
at $8.1 billion.
“The abandoned RBB
right-of-way is overgrown
with vegetation and is impassable
on foot,” the study says.
“Several undergrade bridges
and viaduct sections will require
full replacement due
(to) deteriorated conditions.
Reactivation will require the
laying of new track as well
as installation of new train
signals and 3rd rail traction
power substations.”
The exorbitant price tag of
reactivating the RBB did not
stop Assemblywoman Stacey
Pheffer Amato’s support of
the project.
“We are talking about a
real opportunity to give time
back to commuters’ lives,”
she said. “If this is what it
will take to bring water to a
transit desert, then give me
a bucket! Moving forward,
my office remains committed
to bringing the LIRR,
MTA, NYCT, and all relevant
community partners into the
same room to discuss our
next steps. The time is now
to improve transportation in
our community.”
The Coalition for QueensRail
was pleased with the
release of the study while disappointed
that it was withheld
from the public for more than
a year. The study still has Sept.
21, 2018 on its cover page.
“Once built, QueenLink
will be a tremendous public
asset,” they said in a statement.
“It will dramatically
reduce commute time for people
living in a ‘transportation
desert’ by bringing lower income
and working-class communities
closer to education,
employment, recreation and
affordable housing.”
The group says the RBB
reactivation would benefit
47,000 daily riders meaning
less motor vehicle congestion
on Woodhaven Boulevard and
the Van Wyck Expressway.
“Less congestion means
safer roads, fewer pedestrians
and bicycle deaths and
less pollution,” they said.
“NYC cannot combat climate
change or reduce our dependence
on cars without extending
transit deeper into the
outer boroughs.”
Longtime transportation
historian Larry Penner, who
worked at the Federal Transit
Administration for more
than three decades, says the
MTA study confirms that it
is the end of the line for RBB
service restoration because
the price tag would be even
higher by the time shovels
would hit the ground.
“I don’t see anyone who
will pony up $20 to $30 million
or more to help pay for
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
the next step after completion
of any feasibility study, which
is a formal Environmental
Review. This is supported
by conceptual and preliminary
design and engineering,
which helps support the environmental
review process and
further refines the estimated
project costs. Without this, the
project is dead and buried.”
Penner points out that
there is no funding for the
RBB reactivation project in
the $51 billion MTA 2020-2024
Five Year Capital Program.
“It’s time to read the tea
leaves, regroup and look for
other low cost easier ways to
implement solutions,” Penner
said.
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at
(718) 260–4538.
TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM OCT. 18-24, 2019 3
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