With AirTrain on pause, Port Authority shares over a dozen LGA alternative transit plans
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The Port Authority shared 14 alternatives to the LGA AirTrain project last week, including a subway extension from the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard station. Graphic via Port Authority
By Jacob Kaye
The Port Authority released Thursday over a dozen alternative public transit plans to get long-frustrated riders to and from LaGuardia Airport. The proposals come nearly five months to the day after Governor Kathy Hochul directed the transit agency to reconsider its plans to build an AirTrain to the airport currently undergoing an $8 billion redevelopment.
The 14 proposals – one of them being the previous plan to build an AirTrain extending from the Mets-Willets Point 7 train subway station to the airport – include plans for dedicated bus service, extended subway service, ferry service, a number of new light rail routes and potential emerging technologies, like electric vehicle tunnels or autonomous buses.
The Port Authority said that it has already reached out to “more than 70 key stakeholders, including elected officials and community organizations,” and asked them to fill out a questionnaire “describing the options and the factors being considered in evaluating the options.”
As the Federal Aviation Administration did in fall 2019, the Port Authority will hold a number of public hearings on the new proposals this month.
One will be held at the LaGuardia Marriott Hotel in East Elmhurst from 6 to 8 p.m., on Wednesday, March 16, and the other will be held at the Astoria World Manor from 6 to 8 p.m., on Thursday, March 24.
Previous public hearings on the AirTrain in 2019 came under fire for a number of reasons – residents claimed that their opinions were not being considered in good faith and others said materials were not being distributed in enough languages and translators were unavailable.
A Port Authority spokesperson told the Eagle Friday that the agency is planning to provide translation services in Spanish, Bengali and Mandarin during the upcoming public hearings.
A number of elected officials initially opposed to the construction of the AirTrain told the Eagle Friday that they are waiting to identify any one of the alternative proposals to support. Instead, they are looking to the public review process to inform their decision.
“I would want to connect with community members first,” said Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, whose district would likely be affected regardless of which plan is ultimately chosen. “I am glad that we are coming up with new ideas. In fact, I think a lot of these ideas were proposed last time around, but we're never given a chance to be really thoroughly explored because of the intentions of our former governor to just rail the AirTrain through.”
One of the alternatives proposed by the Port Authority would see an AirTrain run from Jamaica to LGA, connecting with the AirTrain to JFK Airport. Graphic via Port Authority
A spokesperson for Senator Toby Ann Stavisky said the lawmaker “looks forward to hearing from the community during public hearings later this month.”
“She believes public input is critical to this process,” the spokesperson added.
Though he initially supported the project, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards joined a number of lawmakers last year in demanding AirTrain construction be halted.
“I thank and appreciate the Port Authority for its diligent work to put forth such a detailed, diverse set of possibilities as we study how to best connect travelers with LaGuardia Airport,” Richards said in a statement to the Eagle Friday. “I look forward to reviewing the Port Authority’s proposals, in conjunction and in partnership with the greater Northwest Queens community and all our stakeholders, in greater detail in the days and weeks ahead.”
State Senator Jessica Ramos has long been an opponent of the project. In an email to the Eagle Friday, she said that she saw “promise” in the alternative proposals.
“My preference is to address a long-standing transit desert with the option my neighbors feel will best serve them,” she said. “An infrastructure project of this magnitude needs outreach and engagement, so that's what my office is focused on over the coming weeks.”
The lawmaker added that though the public review process may feel like déjà vu to some, the upcoming hearings offer the state a “chance to this right, with the added benefit of now working with a different governor.”
“By stopping the AirTrain, by soliciting new proposals, and by creating fresh opportunities for feedback Governor Hochul is showing us that she is ready to engage with Queens on this,” Ramos said. “Just that change in the process from last time will make a difference.”
Plans to build the AirTrain came under further scrutiny in July 2021, when the FAA released its Environmental Review of the project, giving the rail the green light. A number of advocates and elected officials accused the federal agency of ignoring many of the alternative routes – many of which were re-proposed by the Port Authority Thursday.
Additionally, they said the estimated $2 billion AirTrain would suck funds away from nearby neighborhoods, which also happened to be some of the most adversely affected by the pandemic in the city, including Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, Corona and Jackson Heights.
Advocates also worried the project would have a negative impact on those neighborhoods, adding noise pollution and other negative environmental impacts in an effort to shuttle Manhattan residents to the airport faster.
Hochul, who inherited the project from her predecessor, put construction of the project, which was slated to begin in 2021, on pause in October.
“We must ensure that our transportation projects are bold, visionary, and serve the needs of New Yorkers,” she said in October. “I remain committed to working expeditiously to rebuild our infrastructure for the 21st century and to create jobs - not just at LaGuardia, but at all of our airports and transit hubs across New York."
Many of the proposals made by the Port Authority Thursday were previously considered by the FAA during its environmental review process, when it studied 47 routes and methods. Each route was assessed based on whether or not it reduced travel time to the airport and cut back on traffic on major roads leading to LaGuardia.
The Port Authority said it was considering pods that carry small groups of people to LaGuardia Airport as an alternative to the AirTrain. Photo via FAA
Though the FAA suggested that several alternative routes may prove more practical during previous reviews of the project, in the end, the FAA settled on the AirTrain, calling it “reasonable, feasible, practicable, and prudent.”
Among the proposed alternatives are four other AirTrain routes – not including the original proposal. One would travel mostly above ground from the 61st Street - Woodside 7 train station, which also connects with the Long Island Rail Road, to the airport by way of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Another would travel along the Grand Central Parkway from the Jamaica Station, home to the E, M, Z subway lines, the LIRR and the John F. Kennedy Airport AirTrain.
The third AirTrain option would run from the Astoria Blvd. N and W station along the Grand Central Parkway. Another option would start at the 74th Street - Roosevelt Ave. station and head north to the airport via the BQE – the station services the 7, E, M, F, R lines and, should it be built, the Interborough Express.
State Senator Leroy Comrie, who represents a portion of Southeast Queens, said he’s hoping the Port Authority takes a long look at the option to install one contiguous AirTrain from one of Queens’ airports to the next.
“The Port Authority is just trying to come up with these other, less expensive options to make so that they can say that they've done something,” Comrie told the Eagle. “But it's important that we go back to the original premise of making sure that there is a one loop right into Manhattan from JFK, on to LaGuardia.”
The Port Authority also proposed two potential subway extensions – both would travel above ground and extend the N, W line in Astoria, one from the 30th Avenue stop and the other from Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard.
Though the Port Authority did not release costs associated with each proposal, the subway extension options could be the most costly. In its analysis of the Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard option during its environmental review, the FAA estimated the project would cost $2.82 billion. Ultimately, the agency said the alternative “would not be reasonable to construct and operate and was eliminated from further consideration.”
The agency also proposed five bus routes, any one of which could potentially be the least expensive option. Four of the bus proposals would see the creation of a dedicated bus lane and the other would see a service extension of the M60, which originates on the west side of Manhattan.
Potentially the least expensive option, the Port Authority proposed making upgrades to the M60 bus line to LaGuardia Airport as an alternative to the AirTrain. Graphic via Port Authority
The Port Authority also shared plans to extend ferry service to the airport, originating in Lower Manhattan and making three stops in the borough before landing at LaGuardia.
Lastly, the Port Authority proposed a handful of options that rely on emerging technologies, including a tunnel that would shuttle electric vehicles – like the one proposed by Elon Musk on the west coast.
Fixed guide rails that carry autonomous buses or pods that hold small groups of people are also on the table, the agency said.
