New York Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg’s comments at the recent Regional Planning Association Conference proposing revisiting potential extension of the NYC Transit No. 7 subway beyond Hudson Yards on to Secaucus is a concept worthy of discussion.
This may also be of interest to Town of North Hempstead residents who use the LIRR and are looking for other options.
In March 1986, the RPA released “The Future of Transit in the New York Region” study.
This included $12 billion worth of capital transportation improvements.
The author of the study was RPA Vice President Boris Pushkarev, who subsequently retired in 2013.
One recommendation from this study called for extending the NYC Transit IRT No. 7 subway to the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, N.J.
The proposal included completion of this project by 2000 to meet future ridership needs.
According to the study, this project would “ease rush-hour congestion at current Hudson River crossings and would provide New Jersey commuters with easier access to Manhattan’s east side.”
Fast forward 31 years later.
This proposal may still be the most cost effective bistate project for improving transportation connections between New York and New Jersey even if it takes another twenty years to complete.
The existing 42nd Street Port Authority bus terminal is antiquated.
It lacks sufficient capacity to deal with current and future needs.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey currently anticipates that $10 billion may be needed to build a new facility at the same or an adjacent location on the west side in midtown Manhattan.
Amtrak is looking for $24 billion to fund their proposed “Gateway” project for construction of a new Trans Hudson tunnel.
This would provide additional access to Penn Station from New Jersey for tracks shared with NJ Transit and Amtrak.
Based upon past history, it is doubtful either agency will every obtain these dollars.
A better solution might be to extend the MTA NYC Transit No. 7 subway extension from the Hudson Yards Station on the west side of Manhattan to NJ Transit’s Secaucus Junction station by Exit 15X on the NJ Turnpike.
Build a new bus terminal at Secaucus.
This could divert thousands of riders from both the 42nd Street Bus Terminal and Penn Station.
Imagine providing a direct connection linking New Jersey, Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal and Queens under a one seat ride.
This could assist thousands of reverse commuters to employment centers along with sporting events such as NY Giants and NY Jets at the Meadowlands, NY Mets games, others at Citi Field, (the) U.S .Open, (and) Arthur Ash stadium, along with Flushing Meadow Park and (the) Queens Zoo.
Thousands of NJ residents would have easier access to Manhattan’s east side.
Metro North commuters via Grand Central Terminal (along with LIRR riders when east side access to GCT is completed in 2023) would have a new option to NJ.
This could afford PANYNJ the ability to renovate the existing 42nd Street bus terminal in phases within the existing footprint.
There would be no need for using eminent domain to acquire any neighborhood residency, business or other adjacent property.
Amtrak could shut down one Hudson River tunnel at a time for critical repairs.
Both could remain in transit service with necessary work accomplished at far less cost.
The existing Corona subway yard is already operating at capacity.
This facility is adjacent to wetlands and has little opportunity for expansion.
A second storage yard might have to be built at a site in NJ close to any new bus terminal adjacent to the existing NJ Transit Secaucus transfer station.
It would be difficult to dead head all the equipment from the current Corona Storage Yard to Secaucus to provide service prior to any a.m. or p.m. rush hours.
If NYC Transit wanted to maintain existing headway between trains during rush hour, additional subway cars would need to be purchased.
At $2 million per car, 100 additional cars would equal ten trains for $200 million.
A new storage yard could cost several hundred million.
These costs are in addition to a new tunnel under the Hudson River, track, signal, power and substations.
A new intermodal bus terminal would need to be constructed at Secaucus.
This would be needed to accommodate hundreds of rush hour buses.
Diverting many of these buses from the existing overcrowded Manhattan PA bus terminal could free up scarce space.
This could provide new capacity for service from other metropolitan area communities.
It would eliminate the need to dead head several hundred buses to midday temporary storage facilities in NJ.
A multi-story parking garage to accommodate several thousand cars would also be needed.
This would free up valuable space in the already overcrowded Lincoln and Holland tunnels during rush hours.
Extending the #7 subway line to Secaucus could easily cost $10 billion or more.
There is no money included in the MTA’s 2015-2019 $29 billion capital plan for any work to support construction of the deleted 41st Street and 10th Ave. station or future expansion of the #7 subway line.
Ask the MTA (to) partner with the PA of New York and New Jersey, NJ Transit, the states of New York and New Jersey along with NYC to come up with a joint long term financial plan.
If each contributed $100 million per year or $2 billion each over 20 years, you would raise $12 billion.
Riders and taxpayers from both states would benefit.
You could also enter the United States Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program.
By providing local share, if successful, it would enter into a future Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) with Uncle Sam.
Sponsoring agencies local commitment could potentially leverage several billion in financial assistance from Washington.
This might be spread out over several five year federal transportation funding authorization acts to help defray significant project costs.
Can the region afford to wait 30 more years for this badly needed transportation improvement?
Larry Penner
Great Neck
(Larry Penner is a transportation historian and advocate who previously worked 31 years for the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Region 2 N.Y. Office) .
