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Bronx is snubbed as MTA pursues IBX plan
By
Clayton Guse
and
Stephen Nessen
Published Feb 11, 2023
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Governor Kathy Hochul's office
By
Clayton Guse
and
Stephen Nessen
Published Feb 11, 2023
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There’s no Bronx in the IBX.
A decadeslong dream of a one-seat train ride between the Bronx and Queens is nowhere in sight as the MTA moves forward with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed Interborough Express line.
The MTA last month released a feasibility study for light-rail trains to travel on freight tracks between Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and Jackson Heights, Queens. The significant step in the project omits the Bronx.
The IBX is a truncated version of a more ambitious plan touted by transit advocates since the 1990s that would extend the route over the Hell Gate Bridge and into the Bronx.
"Overview map of the existing freight rail corridor, subway connections, and the primary study area. Note that while most of the IBX corridor runs along the Bay Ridge Branch, a portion includes the Fremont Secondary."
MTA officials now say there won’t be enough space on the Hell Gate, which is used by Amtrak, once the agency launches Penn Access service in 2027 to bring Metro-North trains into Penn Station. Neither the IBX nor Penn Access will link the three boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx.
Bronx locals feel left out.
"We felt it was just another snub to the Bronx, as usual, when it comes to major transformation projects,” said Ed Garcia Conde, a Bronx advocate who runs the website Welcome2theBronx.
He called the planned Metro-North service to Penn Station “far from adequate.”
The IBX would add light-rail service along these freight tracks.
JAKE DOBKIN / GOTHAMIST
The Bronx has long been on the wrong end of ambitious transit projects in the city. The Cross-Bronx Expressway, for example, is considered a prime example of environmental racism. Bronx politicians have criticized the MTA’s plan to implement congestion pricing in Manhattan because it would result in as many as 4,000 additional personal vehicles and 704 additional trucks traveling on the Cross-Bronx Expressway per day.
To some advocates, Penn Access also represents another missed opportunity to link the Bronx and Queens.
Once it launches, Metro-North trains will travel from the Bronx through Queens to Penn Station — without stopping in Queens.
The MTA has hinted at future plans to build a commuter station above Amtrak’s Sunnyside Rail Yard in Queens in early documents for its 20-year construction plan. At one point the station was part of the agency’s East Side Access project, which debuted last month. But the station was dropped under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“Penn Access is nice for people from the Bronx, Westchester, and Connecticut who want to go to west Midtown,” said Danny Pearlstein, spokesperson for the Riders Alliance. “But plenty of others along the entire New Haven line, not just starting out in the Bronx, would like a one-seat ride to neighborhoods across Queens and Brooklyn. And because of how hard it is to steer a train — or megaproject — once it's set in motion, those folks are going to be waiting decades longer than they should for the service they want.”
Tagged
transportation
bronx
Clayton Guse
Clayton is the editor of the Transit and Infrastructure desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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