WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MAY 11, 2017 15 Concerns as Harbor Tunnel plan resurfaces BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT The plan to create a Cross Harbor Freight Rail Tunnel just took a major step forward, but one local lawmaker remains apprehensive. The Cross Harbor Freight Program (CHFP) — which aims to greatly reduce truck traffi c by connecting New York City to the national freight rail grid — recently received up to $70 million from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) for the next study phase. Congresswoman Grace Meng, however, is still worried about the impacts it would have on her constituents in Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, and Ridgewood should it be built. Meng expressed her concerns over PANYNJ moving ahead with a Tier II Environmental Impact Study for the freight tunnel, which was identifi ed in the Tier I Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) as one of two potential options to help alleviate severe traffi c congestion and reduce dependency on aging roadways and bridges. “I remain concerned about any plan that would increase truck and rail Congresswoman Grace Meng remains concerned over the Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel. traffi c through communities in my district,” Meng said in a statement. “It is critical that this next phase of environmental reviews be conducted thoroughly and take all traffi c issues into account. I will be watching the process closely.” The congresswoman fi rst voiced her concerns regarding a freight tunnel that would potentially increase both truck and rail traffi c in her district in a pair of letters to PANYNJ and the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) in 2015. The proposed rail tunnel would run between an existing rail yard in the Greenville area of Jersey City and connect with existing rail infrastructure in Brooklyn Photo via Wikimedia Commons as a way to increase freight shipments across the harbor and reduce traffi c on Hudson River bridges and tunnels. The Cross Harbor Tunnel was fi rst proposed in the fi rst few years of the 21st century, spurring concern from local civic leaders and organizations. Groups such as Community Board 5 (CB 5) have repeatedly come out against this option, citing the issues residents face on a daily basis with the rail freight operations at the Fresh Pond Railyard in Glendale — which also runs through portions of Maspeth, Middle Village and Ridgewood — and fearing a cross harbor tunnel would increase rail use and truck traffi c through the neighborhoods. The earlier plans called for the creation of an intermodal facility in Maspeth, where products would be offl oaded from train cars to trucks; residents in the Maspeth area believed this would add thousands of trucks to local streets each day were it ever built. Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke out against the tunnel plan in 2003, and while the proposal was shelved at that time, it resurfaced years later as the Port Authority seeks additional ways to move traffi c through the region. According to the FEIS, “The Rail Tunnel Alternative would divert between 7.2 and 9.6 million tons of freight per year, depending on the diff erent operating scenarios aff ecting the potential to capture through trip long-haul truck markets.” PANYNJ has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for consultants to conduct the Tier II Environmental Impact Study and other advanced planning and engineering work. PANYNJ has committed up to $35 million for the study, and has an addition $35 million available for further design and engineering. Maspeth auto body shop raises over $14,000 for cancer research The members of American Auto Body & Recovery in Maspeth held a fundraising event on April 29 in memory of the auto body shop owner Sam’s wife Daisy who died of cancer. They collected over $8,000 that day, in addition to $5,000 in online donations, for the Daisy’s Angels Relay Photo courtesy of Lisa Martinez for Life team that will participate in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event at Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village on June 24.
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