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On Display: Plans For The Hudson Rail Yards

Posted by
on November 19th, 2007 at 7:14 pm

Last month, I wrote about the MTA seeking & receiving bid proposals for the rights to develop the Hudson Rail Yards. The 26 acre land is highly sought after real estate where plans call for turning the area into a huge waterfront destination filled with everything from businesses to residences mixed in with shopping for everyone.

Yesterday the MTA issued a press release stating the 5 proposals will be on public display in the form of an exhibit. The exhibit will take place between the hours of 8 a.m. & 8 p.m. every day from today November 19th until December 3rd. The only day the exhibit will be closed is on Thanksgiving Day. The exhibit is located at 335 Madison Avenue which is a storefront that can be accessed at the corner of 43rd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue.

Here is the entire press release courtesy of the MTA:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced the opening of a public exhibition of the proposals the agency has received for development of its rail yards on Manhattan’s Far West Side. The exhibit will be open to the public from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday, November 19 through Monday, December 3, with the exception of Thanksgiving Day.

The exhibit will be held at 335 Madison Avenue, a storefront that can be accessed at the corner of 43rd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue.

“We are very excited to be able to present these proposals to the public for their review and feedback,” said Elliot G. Sander, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the MTA. “We are committed to incorporating public input into the selection process as we look for a proposal that will provide critical funding for our capital plan and tremendous benefit to the city.”

The exhibit, which is located directly across the street from Grand Central Terminal, features models and other presentation materials prepared by each of the five development teams: Brookfield Properties Developer LLC; Extell Development Company; Hudson Center East LLC and Hudson Center West LLC (A Joint Venture of Vornado Realty Trust and The Durst Organization, Inc.); The Related Companies; and TS West Side Holding, LLC (A Joint Venture of Tishman Speyer and Morgan Stanley). Comments will be accepted via comment card at the exhibit beginning on Monday, and online in the near future.

The input will help inform the selection process. The proposals are now being reviewed by a selection committee with a majority of its members appointed by MTA and with two representatives from Hudson Yards Development Corporation. The recommended proposal(s) for each yard will then go to the MTA Board for consideration in the first quarter of 2008.

The Newsday also has an article about the exhibit. Here is the full article courtesy of Newsday:


Read the rest of this entry »

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MTA Public Engagement Workshop

Posted by
on November 19th, 2007 at 6:33 pm

As many know this past Saturday, the MTA held a public engagement workshop on fares & tolls. I had wanted to attend the event but a scheduled engagement coupled with the fact that I had next to no energy prevented me from going. However fellow transit blogger Benjamin Kabak of “Second Avenue Sagas” attended. I highly suggest everyone read his entry about attending the workshop as it is a good read. Click here to read his report.

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MTA Vice Chairman Opposes The Fare Hike

Posted by
on November 19th, 2007 at 6:10 pm

I don’t know if I should consider this a surprise or a PR move to cover one owns ass but MTA Vice Chairman Andrew Saul has publicly announced his opposition to the proposed fare hike. As I am sure you recall, Mr. Saul was one of the 3 board members who missed every single public hearing on the proposed fare hikes. Here is a complete article on Mr. Saul’s views courtesy of New York Daily News transit reporter Pete Donohue:

The Halt the Hike campaign got a big boost Friday when a key MTA board member changed course and came out against fare increases.

“I am against this fare hike proposal,” board Vice Chairman Andrew Saul declared. “A fare increase is always a hardship and the last option I consider to cover budget shortfalls.”

Instead of seeking higher fares from millions of daily subway, bus and commuter train riders, Saul – who also heads the board’s finance committee – said he would continue to pursue savings within the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

He also pledged support to lawmakers seeking more mass transit funding from Gov. Spitzer and the state Legislature. Spitzer unveils his first budget and the Legislature reconvenes in January.

State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) welcomed Saul on board the campaign to keep fares and tolls stable.

“The momentum is shifting, there’s no question about that,” Brodsky said.

Saul is the third MTA board member to voice opposition to increases that were proposed earlier this year by Spitzer’s transit chief, MTA CEO Elliot Sander, and Sander’s top deputies.

The board has 16 voting members, including three suburban representatives who share one vote. Mayor Bloomberg has four reps that traditionally vote as a bloc.

Bloomberg hasn’t embraced the proposal but hasn’t rejected it either. The board will vote on a 2008 budget next month.

Brodsky and approximately 100 state legislators have urged the MTA to at least delay possible implementation to April from February, providing more time for them to seek more funds in Albany.

If they succeed, riders could be spared the third round of increases since 2003.

Director of a nationwide chain of clothing stores, Saul is one of several board members appointed by former Gov. George Pataki. The Republican also has launched a campaign for a Democrat-held congressional seat.

Though Saul recently told the Daily News he wouldn’t support delaying the fare hike, he insisted yesterday he never intended to vote for the hike.

“Although the state Legislature has historically been unable to come up with the funding we needed to avoid fare increases, I am hopeful that this time they will be successful,” he said.

The MTA has a large surplus but expects huge deficits in 2009.

While it is nice to hear one of the higher ranking officials oppose the fare hike, I do question the sincerity behind his position. The timing of the announcement raises eyebrows considering the criticism he & the other 2 board members received from all levels of the media including such blogs as this one. This would not be the first or last time I will question someone’s true motive but can you blame me, this is the MTA we are talking about. The agency has perfected the art of lying to people right in their face without blinking an eye. If Mr. Saul is honestly against the proposed fare hike, then these last few weeks until the vote shall prove to be even more interesting if that is even possible!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

Port Authority’s Bridge & Tunnel Fare Hike Revealed

Posted by
on November 19th, 2007 at 5:43 am

This past Friday, the Port Authority released its plans to increase bridge & tunnel tolls along with the fare of PATH trains. The plan calls for a 33% increase in tolls for drivers driving from New Jersey to New York. Their plan would see the rush hour costs on its six bridges & tunnels that link New York & New Jersey rise to $8. Their plan calls for PATH fares to go from $1.5o to $2.00. They said the increase is needed to help build a train tunnel to encourage mass transit use & environmentally friendly driving. Here is a full article about the plan courtesy of Newsday:

Transit officials unveiled a widely anticipated plan to increase tolls by 33 percent for drivers going from New Jersey to New York, saying the proposal will help build a crucial train tunnel and encourage mass transit and environmentally friendly driving.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns six bridges and tunnels linking New Jersey to New York City, wants to raise rush-hour tolls on the crossings from $6 to $8, and increase fares on PATH commuter trains from $1.50 to $2.

More than 120 million drivers cross Port Authority bridges and tunnels from New Jersey to New York City each year, and about 227,000 passengers take PATH trains every day.

The increases would take effect next year if approved; public hearings are planned first.

The agency’s executive director, Anthony Shorris, said the first toll increases since 2001 would fund billions of dollars in capital plans, from stabilizing bridges to rebuilding the World Trade Center site.

But the agency that has always taken in more revenue from cars seemed focused on train travel, upping its commitment from $2 billion to $3 billion for a second tunnel taking rail commuters under the Hudson River between the states. Shorris said the agency’s commitment to the tunnel, which would accommodate NJ Transit and Amtrak trains, should trigger federal funding of the $7.5 billion connection.

An updated, 10-year capital plan budgeted more than $3 billion to revamp the underused PATH train lines, lengthen platforms, buy new cars and boost security measures like baggage checks on trains.

“The … biggest threat to our region is whether we can manage growth,” said Shorris, who expected some toll increases would move motorists onto public transportation, while others might decide to drive during less congested times.

The proposal would charge motorists $8 during rush hours – even for E-ZPass users who currently get discounts at all times – at the Lincoln and Holland tunnels and bridges including the George Washington, Goethals, Bayonne and Outerbridge Crossing. The peak hours include a period from noon to 8 p.m. on the weekends. Truck and bus prices would vary, depending on the size of the vehicle.

E-ZPass drivers would pay $6 during less congested times; drivers using low-emission, environmentally friendly vehicles would pay only $4 off-peak, an incentive the Port Authority hoped would help it reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent next year.

Drivers would end up having to subsidize mass transit and rebuilding projects if the hike passes, said Stephen Carrellas, New Jersey’s coordinator for the National Motorists’ Association.

I bet many drivers who thumb their noses at mass transit must be pissed!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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1

Grade Crossing In Mineola To Soon Be Gone Forever

Posted by
on November 17th, 2007 at 5:10 am

The dangerous rail grade crossing located on Roslyn Road in Mineola will soon be gone forever. This comes as great news to many who know how dangerous this crossing is. The grade crossing is no stranger to near or actual tragedies as many probably remember how 37 year old Michael Artale was struck and killed by a LIRR train after walking around the gates. A near tragedy occurred recently when a woman mistook the LIRR tracks as a road & started to drive down them before getting rescued seconds before a train hit & destroyed her car.

Here is an article about the plans to remove the grade crossing courtesy of Newsday:

More than a decade before 37-year-old Michael Artale was struck and killed by a train after he walked around the lowered gates at Roslyn Road, state officials had talked about eliminating the Mineola grade crossing.

Now, nearly a decade later, work to eliminate the crossing is well under way and should be complete by this summer, state officials said.

“Why it took so long ticks me off,” said Robert Kessler of Mineola, a friend of Artale’s. “It would have saved his life.”

Just last Thursday, the crossing nearly claimed another life when a 63-year-old Floral Park woman accidentally drove onto the tracks. She was pulled from her car just moments before it was crushed by a westbound Long Island Rail Road train.

Eliminating a grade crossing is neither cheap nor easy. The Mineola project has a price tag of $24.3 million, and the work itself has been a massive undertaking, state officials said, requiring excavation under existing tracks for a new roadway and the installation of a 365-ton steel railroad bridge.

While it’s illegal to walk or drive around lowered gates at grade crossings, dozens who have done so have died or been injured all across Long Island in the past decade.

State officials said the project will eliminate such dangers at the site and improve traffic on Roslyn Road. Approximately 200 LIRR trains and 16,000 vehicles pass through the intersection each day, officials said.

Barbara Bodner, who has lived near the grade crossing for the past seven years, said vehicle traffic has gotten worse, sometimes backing up four blocks to Westbury Avenue.

“When I first moved in they were talking about it,” she said. “I’ve seen people walk across when the gates are down.”

The new roadway under the bridge is scheduled to open at Roslyn Road by the end of next month, state officials said. The entire project, which includes removing crossing gates and adding sidewalks, drainage work and landscaping, is to be complete by summer.

In 1998, the Herricks Road crossing in Mineola – once called the most dangerous at-grade crossing in America by the National Transportation Safety Board – was eliminated. In 1982, an accident there killed nine teenagers.

According to the LIRR, although the new bridge over Roslyn Road includes space for a third track, which the railroad said is needed to expand capacity on the main line, the elimination of the grade crossing is not part of the third track project.

LIRR officials said that project could lead to the elimination of up to five other grade crossings in Westbury and New Hyde Park.

This grade crossing should have been removed years ago if you ask me. The completion of this project can not come soon enough!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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