MTA working to get interborough express project on track
A town hall was held on Wednesday where many residents got the chance to learn about the MTA’s plan that’s looking to shave minutes off commute times.
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Commuting between Brooklyn and Queens may look different in the future as the MTA is working to get the interborough express on track.
A town hall was held on Wednesday where many residents got the chance to learn about the MTA’s plan that’s looking to shave minutes off commute times for those commuting between Brooklyn and Queens.
The project plans to build along a 14-mile freight line that extends from Bay Ridge to Jackson Heights, giving the nearly 900,000 people who live along the route a new transit option.
The route would also connect up to 17 different subway lines together, as well as the Long Island Railroad. The project is currently in the environmental review process, which kicks off this winter and is a two-year period used to identify environmental effects and ways to mitigate significant impacts.
“The right of way exists from Jackson Heights to Bay Ridge,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, of construction and development at the MTA. “What would need to be done is a reconstruction of that right of way, in order to accommodate addition to the existing freight track.”
A crucial part of this plan is that funding must still be secured to get the project going, and organizers say they’re looking to all possible sources to create infrastructure and financial backing.
The project is estimated to cost approximately $5.5 billion.
