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QUEENS WEEKLY, OCTOBER 20, 2019
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.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
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, Queen-
Link 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
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.
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