By Philip Newman
Gov. George Pataki has hailed the Bush administration’s go-ahead to provide more funding for the EastSide Access project that would bring Long Island Rail Road trains into Grand Central Terminal.
The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee last year voted to provide $10 million for the $5 billion-plus project, while at the same time voting no money for the Second Avenue subway.
Congress is to review the East Side project proposal later on this year as part of a transportation package and to decide whether to provide money.
“We are extremely gratified that President Bush and the Federal Transit Administration have recommended the MTA’s EastSide Access Project for federal funding, providing a major positive step forward,” Pataki said.
“As we continue working to improve New York City’s economy, this funding will help us advance this critical project to improve access for the more than 50,000 commuters who would take the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal each day.”
The EastSide Access Project would require nearly seven miles of new tunnels in a route from Long Island City to Grand Central, where a new concourse would be constructed 120 feet below ground. The plan also envisions a LIRR station in Sunnyside.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has estimated that 161,000 daily Long Island Rail Road and Queens public transit commuters would use EastSide Access, saving a half hour of travel time. The MTA said the new link would attract more than 35,000 new customers to public transit, reduce crowding on Queens subway lines and greatly lessen road traffic.
Transit advocates have said the project, to be completed by 2011, must be built at the same time as the Second Avenue subway. Otherwise, they contend, the thousands of additional commuters it would deposit on the east side of Manhattan would bring further chaos to the already jam-packed Lexington Avenue subway, the East Side’s only subway.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 136.
