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F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:...
Harlem's the only one shut out of NYP because the Port Morris Branch doesn't join the Hell Gate until after all of the Bronx intermediates, depriving Harlem of most of the new reverse-commute ridership that New Haven's tapping. NYP alone isn't compelling enough for the track miles on the diversion if it can't hit those high-growth spots in the Bronx, so there isn't enough of a "WOW!" hook for bringing Harlem to the party.
On September 26th, 2018, the Bronx Metro-North Area Study Working Group convened to discuss planning around the proposed Parkchester/Van Nest Station and prepare for the public event in October 2018. The meeting was well attended by elected officials, local institutions, and community stakeholders among others.
The public is invited to participate in a workshop/open house scheduled for Saturday, October 27th at St. Raymond's Elementary School from 10am -1pm (Enter at corner of E Tremont Ave and Purdy St.) The interactive self-paced event is an important opportunity for the community to join city agencies to plan around future Metro-North service – share your local expertise, hear from your neighbors, contribute your ideas to improve Tremont Avenue, plan for the station area, consider what the service means for jobs, health, housing, youth and more. See the PDF Document flyer for the public workshop and open house.
Metro-North service is coming to the east Bronx following the completion of the Penn Station Access project and related work. Four new Metro-North stations will be located at Hunts Point, Parkchester/Van Nest, Morris Park, and Co-Op City. Thoughtful, holistic planning around each of the stations is critical to ensuring these stations are integrated into the fabric of the neighborhoods they will serve and will mean the difference between merely establishing new service and ensuring the service is a transformative and positive force in the lives of Bronx residents and their economy.
The Bronx Metro-North Study (BMNS) will look closely at each of the station areas to ensure maximum benefits accrue to the borough as a result of this unprecedented investment in transportation infrastructure and new service. BMNS will lead to short-term and long-term recommendations and improvements around the proposed stations, including safety and access improvements such as crosswalks, sidewalks, and wayfinding elements; better coordination with existing and planned subway and bus service. BMNS will also evaluate land uses and economic development opportunities at Morris Park and Parkchester/Van Nest.
Close coordination among the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the Department of City Planning (DCP), the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC), and the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) —together with the Bronx Borough President’s Office and other key city agencies and stakeholders — will be critical to ensuring the stations are thoughtfully integrated into the fabric of the neighborhoods they will serve.
For an overview of the study, study background and information, and station area overview, please visit our brochure page.
In 2017, New York State committed nearly $695 million in its 2015–2019 capital budget to make the new stations and new Metro-North transit service in the East Bronx.
To prepare for these new stations, in 2014, after a three-year planning process, the Department of City Planning released a milestone report -- Sustainable Communities in the Bronx -- on regional rail and transit connections in the borough. That report included recommendations on numerous improvements to existing Metro-North stations throughout the Bronx. Work around those existing stations continues and promises improvements to the commuting experience of Bronx residents, providing a comfortable, fast, and convenient connection to major job and cultural centers not currently available to Bronx residents.
In addition to improvements around existing stations, the report also identified the need for greater planning around four stations planned for the East Bronx: Co-Op City, Morris Park Ave, Parkchester/Van Nest, and Hunts Point. BMNS will act as the next phase of the Sustainable Communities study.
The East Bronx is in desperate need of more transit options. Westchester County is eager to get more people into its own commercial hub. Gov. Cuomo and the MTA have a plan to provide for both: Penn Station Access will be a Metro-North rail connection tying four new East Bronx stations to both Penn Station in Manhattan and to job centers to the north in Westchester County and Connecticut.
There is across-the-board support for this critical project — among Bronx communities, Westchester County residents and elected leaders at the county, city and state levels. The only thing standing in the way of the project moving forward is Amtrak, which needs to let the MTA commence work on the tracks they control.
It is long overdue for Amtrak to get on board.
For the past few decades, we have watched the Bronx undergo a vibrant transformation. Between 2010 and 2017 the population of the Bronx grew by over 6%, making it the fastest growing county in the state. Economic development and job creation are on the rise, yet there are still major transit deserts in the east Bronx.
Transit inequity both undermines the Bronx's future and limits who can access the counties north and east of the Bronx. The border between Westchester County and the Bronx is shared, but currently there is no easy way for residents to access this corridor via public transportation.
When borough residents cannot readily reach jobs in Manhattan or in Stamford, Conn., we deny them economic opportunity. When Westchester residents cannot easily access Montefiore-Einstein and Jacobi Medical Centers, we limit these information and technology hubs in terms of job growth and innovation.
The Penn Access project will cut in half the time it takes a Co-op City resident to commute to Manhattan — or to New Rochelle.
It is also more obvious than ever that we need another route on and off Manhattan in the event of emergencies. As everyone remembers, during Superstorm Sandy, Metro-North service was compromised between Manhattan and the northern suburbs, causing harm to both the local and national economy.
This project makes a lot of sense for taxpayers at large. They would get a major new project by using Amtrak's existing underutilized rail line through the Bronx, rather than trying to build a new line from scratch. That will speed construction and hold down costs — assuming everyone works together.
Right now, that is not happening.
Amtrak has much to gain from Penn Station Access; the MTA has already agreed to rebuild an enormous amount of Amtrak's existing infrastructure along the line — tracks, signals, power systems. The MTA and Metro-North team have even agreed to share the cost of replacing the Pelham Bay Bridge — a 100-year-old structure nearing the end of its useful life.
But Amtrak apparently wants more — not just a new railroad, but "access fees" Amtrak does not collect from other regional commuter railroads, a commitment to foot virtually the entire bill to replace Amtrak's 100-year-old bridge, and millions of dollars more.
That price is just too high.
Already on the Long Island Rail Road's East Side Access project, Amtrak is getting $1 billion worth of improvements from the MTA for free, while it has been responsible for big schedule delays and budget increases on the project.
For some families in the Bronx and in lower Westchester, Penn Station Access will mean the difference between economic isolation and prosperity. We cannot continue to let Amtrak hold this capital project hostage.
Diaz is Bronx borough president. Latimer is the Westchester County executive.
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