$5.4M study advances ‘one-seat ride’ idea
By KATHY KAHN

 

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither was rapid and easily accessible mass transit, something Hudson Valley to New York City-bound commuters are longing for.

Four decades and three studies are slowly but surely advancing what U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer predicts will ultimately create a one-seat ride into Manhattan.

Stewart International Airport’s main terminal was abuzz with politicians May 9, all ready to hear money is coming to make commuting less cumbersome to and from the Port Authority’s fourth major airport.

First comes the study.

Schumer, along with Metropolitan Transit Authority CEO Elliot “Lee” Sander, U.S. Rep. John Hall, Orange County Executive Ed Diana, Metro- North CEO Peter Cannito and others announced a $5.4 million alternative analysis study is set to begin by June 2, with the Port Authority matching the MTA’s $2.7 million grant.

The study is expected to take 12 to 14 months; then, an environmental impact study will take place. When all is said and done, Schumer said it will be time to break ground, creating a Stewart-to-Salisbury Mills connection on the MTA’s Port Jervis line. The cost is estimated at $200 million to $500 million when completed. Variables include how fast studies can be completed, the litigious fervor of plan opponents and what construction prices will be when ground is broken.

Schumer credited his predecessor, the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, with first proposing the vision of creating mass transit for those who would be moving north and west of New York City. “We will look back on this day as when talk about a rail link to Stewart turned to action,” he said.

Schumer predicted a rail link and a one-seat ride to Manhattan through New Jersey Transit’s new Hudson River tunnel will help grow the airport as a strong regional hub, as well take 30,000 cars off the road each day.

“Those are people who are driving to work; that number will only continue to grow as the region grows,” said Hall.

The ultimate goal is to link the MTA’s lines west of the Hudson to the new $7 billion tunnel in New Jersey. Known as Access to the Region’s Core (ARC), it would eliminate the need to switch trains inbound for Manhattan at the Secaucus transfer station. ARC is a joint venture between New Jersey Transit and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The two agencies predict work will begin in 2009 and take at least two to four years to complete.

Schumer praised Sander and the Port Authority for working together to get the $5.4 million needed to start the alternative analysis study now, rather than waiting for an earmark. “Earmarks are iffy,” Schumer said, “and the area is better served by having this project start now rather than later.”

Schumer also pledged another $6 million in federal funding to help pay for the environmental impact study. “And we’re going to hold you to that,” Orange County Executive Ed Diana said and smiled.

While Rockland and Orange counties depend on Metro-North’s Port Jervis line, many commuters hope a one-seat ride into Manhattan via a new Tappan Zee Bridge will be created and bypass the Garden State entirely.

Sander said he supports ARC. And while a one-ride ride for west-of-the-Hudson riders over a new bridge would be a plus, the plans to put some type of rail link – or even prepare the bridge for a future one – are only in the talking stages.

“ARC is happening,” said Sander. “It is going to help the region and our goal is to think of this as a regional project.”

 

 

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