State officials on Thursday released the first set of documents outlining Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal for a third track along a key stretch of the Long Island Rail Road.
The draft scope for the $1.5 billion project describes the proposed environmental study and options for eliminating the seven street-level railroad crossings along the 9.8 miles of the LIRR’s Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville.
Officials published the document on AModernLI.com, a website launched to provide information and collect feedback about the project.
The website’s launch and officials’ announcement of four public scoping meetings this month mark a new step in the extensive outreach effort Cuomo, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the LIRR have promised since the third track proposal ignited local opposition in January.
“This project will make the LIRR more reliable for millions of customers, while also eliminating multiple dangerous train crossings along the main line,” Cuomo said in a statement. “Our proposal will ensure that we can continue to improve the quality of life and grow the economy in the region, and I encourage New Yorkers to learn more about how we’re working to build a brighter future for Long Island.”
The scoping document says officials plan to start construction and finish by 2020 with a “competitive design-build” private contract process that would consider an “expedited construction schedule.”
It also details how planners could build underpasses at or permanently close the street-level crossings. There are three in New Hyde Park, two in Mineola, one in Westbury and one in Hicksville.
In addition to the website and public meetings, the MTA on Friday opened an information center at the Mineola LIRR station where residents can review the scoping document and ask questions on Tuesdays and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Those steps continue Cuomo’s effort to market his third track project as less intrusive than the one the MTA proposed in 2005 and abandoned in 2008 after community opposition
While he thinks eliminating the grade crossings will benefit the affected areas, Bill Corbett, spokesman for the Floral Park-based opposition group Citizens Against Rail Expansion, said he doubts the state’s timeline, cost estimates and commitment to build the project within the LIRR’s existing right of way.
Corbett maintained detractors’ concerns about the project increasing freight train traffic and construction affecting traffic, commerce, pollution and general quality of life.
“I think the governor is sincere in wanting to try to be helpful here, but I think he’s being misled by his staff because I don’t think they can carry through on the promises they’re making,” he said.
In a statement Thursday, Dave Kapell, executive director of the pro-third track group Right Track for Long Island, praised Cuomo for the “timely release” of the scoping document and its specific information about the crossings.
“The governor has worked closely with leaders of the communities along the corridor to develop these plans and we look forward to helping insure that local concerns are considered and addressed so that everyone benefits from this crucial infrastructure investment in the Long Island’s future,” Kapell said in the statement.
Supporters say the third track will ease road traffic congestion and improve commutes while adding millions of dollars to Long Island’s economy and attracting thousands of new residents.
The scoping document lays out options for building underpasses at the seven crossings and for closing them at South 12th Street in New Hyde Park and Main Street in Mineola.
Some options would require road closures, loss of parking spaces and commercial property acquisitions, but the document gives some alternatives with other trade-offs.
One option for the Covert Avenue crossing in New Hyde Park, for instance, would close that road and Second and Third avenues, which village officials have decried. Another option would keep northbound traffic open on Covert Avenue but would take longer to build, the document says.
The third track is not expected to increase freight traffic along the Main Line corridor, the document says, and any additional freight trains would travel at night.
Local village officials and community leaders have met several times with representatives from Cuomo’s office, the MTA, LIRR and state Department of Transportation to discuss concerns about the projects and plans to eliminate the crossings.
Cuomo himself met with village officials in February, and state officials have had more than 80 meetings with villages, civic groups, state lawmakers, school boards and chambers of commerce, Cuomo’s office said in a statement.
State officials will hear from residents for the first time at four public meetings on May 24 at The Inn at New Hyde Park and Hofstra University and May 25 at “Yes We Can” Community Center in Westbury and Antun’s catering hall in Hicksville.
Planners will incorporate input from the hearings into an environmental study to be released late this summer, Cuomo’s office said in a statement.
Village of New Hyde Park Mayor Robert Lofaro said he and other Main Line village officials are unhappy residents will have only a little more than a month to provide feedback before the scoping period ends in mid-June, less time than 90-day comment period in the mid-2000s.
Lofaro said the state should hold more evening hearings in affected communities to accomodate those who work during the day.
“We feel it’s not serving the public’s best interest that folks would have to get in a car or go to Mineola station and be bused to a location,” he said. “It’s just unreasonable.”
New Hyde Park officials will hold a May 19 informational meeting to present the document to residents, gather their feedback and prepare them for the state’s hearings.
The Village of Mineola has hired urban planning consultant Paul Grygiel to review all documents related to the third track and advise the village as the plan develops.
Grygiel helped develop Mineola’s 2004 Master Plan and has unique insight on how the LIRR project would affect the downtown area and its residential developments, Mayor Scott Strauss said.
“I need a subject matter expert and he has an intimate knowledge of our downtown,” Strauss said.
The village will pay Grygiel an estimated $7,500 for his services, Strauss said.
Corbett said the state’s outreach effort is an improvement from the first time the MTA tried to build a third track, but opposition is still strong with more than 100 local groups in CARE.
