The Regional Plan Association isn’t choosing the QueensWay over the Queens Rail, or vice versa.
Instead, the transportation think tank has partially endorsed both ideas for the abandoned 3.5-mile Rockaway Beach Rail Line.
In its Fourth Regional Plan, issued late last month, the RPA called for the creation of the QueensWay — a proposed park along the elevated right-of-way — between Rego Park and Woodhaven.
From Atlantic Avenue south into Ozone Park, the RPA has endorsed the reactivation of train service along the defunct line.
Under the Fourth Regional Plan, the Queens Rail would run between Atlantic Avenue and Kennedy Airport with a stop near Aqueduct Race Track in between.
At Atlantic Avenue, the service would connect to the Long Island Rail Road’s Atlantic Branch — which itself would be extended west from Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn into Manhattan.
That would give train proponents that 30-minute one-seat ride from Manhattan to JFK many have advocated for.
16 comments:
RPA´s Fourth Regional Plan does not call for the creation of the Queensway. Read the 376 page document. It does call for the reactivation of the Rockaway Beach Branch railroad south of Atlantic Avenue.
This sounds like King Solomon's judgment to cut the baby in two.
However, all this plan lacks is the King's wisdom...
Up near where the LIRR cuts through Queens, south of QB, the Queensway idea is utterly ridiculous. It's mostly a high narrow earth berm tightly hemmed in by private residences, that then runs into a deep ravine terminating against the LIRR tracks. There are so many unaddressed problems with it: Would it close at night and how would that be enforced; difficulty of access along its length; trash-- where to put it and how to remove it; police access; emergency access for people inevitably getting injured; and WHY? WHY? destroy the huge trees and natural habitat for birds and small animals that already exists there? It's a lovely bit of wilderness in Queens. This strip of land is already at its highest and best use. People don't need a bike trail to nowhere, that will squeeze others off the earth berm to tumble down the steep sides and land against residents' back fences. This whole thing is stupid from the word go.
This would do nothing to relieve congestion on woodhaven blvd.
The problem here is that one of Cuomo's biggest backers ia 'rail to trails' guy who wants Queensway. Cuomo of course is going to work as hard as he can for his backers, not the people of Queens who do not want a trail to nowhere bringing drugs and crime literally into their back yards.
"This whole thing is stupid from the word go."
Isn't that the Dope from Park Slope's mantra?
Not every bit of "urban wild" space needs to be actively utilized, especially for the purposes of greedy realtors (because those are the people who would really benefit from this change).
As I happen to have (literally) the LIRR right behind my house, and live not far from the NY Connecting RR (which is still in use), I can attest accurately that these corridors have become something of a green space for birds and the like. The trains can still use them. And animals too. People do need to intrude themselves any further onto the picture than they already have.
They are absolutely FINE the way they are, as the ^Up-near-where Anon above stated so well! No paths, no bikes, no benches, just leave it be!
To call the RPA a think tank is kind of ridiculous
Stay out of Rockaway and Broad Channel, we have enough gang bangers and thousands of people on welfare dealing drugs as it is.
Please don't bring more criminals to our door steps.
The reactivation of the old LIRR line would certainly relieve some of the congestion on Woodhaven Blvd. There is no North-South alternative. Most of the naysayers live next to the old RR line. They should have realized this was always a possibility when they bought the house.
Run the LIRR to Manhattan from Brooklyn. Where do the $ Billions come from?? Imagine the congestion years of construction pose?
Completely unrealistic,leave it alone.
PS How about turning the water tunnel under Force Tube Ave into subterranean water park!!
Good thing I waited. As anon 1 precisely dissected this imbecilic plan. The only way all that forestation is going to be cleared is if you drop a bomb on it. This isn't like the highline in Manhattan where the elevated rail was already there which made cleanup and renovation easy. It also had massive backing from way more influential billionaire types for private funding.
This thing isn't much of a compromise because this is going to be costly and certain to take decades and cost overruns to build this supposed transfer to the LIRR on Atlantic Avenue as the extension on the LIRR in Grand Central has proven with the NY Times report detailed.
The bike trail going north as always been Woodhaven Blvd. What's interesting is that boulevard has not drawn interest from the bike lobby dimwits or the Mayor's city planning dumbshits and hasn't got a wide bike lane like on Queens Blvd or other lanes like in Manhattan and by Prospect park and the tower areas by Williamsburg.
>PS How about turning the water tunnel under Force Tube Ave into subterranean water park!!
This sounds really cool tbh
Existing residents need to take my personal urban planning theory of boundaries to heart - things like this proposed trail, that's just destroying an existing boundary - the kind that actually keeps the area they're living in, nice and LIVABLE.
All they're doing is inviting in more people, more problems, more development, more buzz.
^ Queensway would make a nice homeless encampment. Imagine a nice summer morning having your coffe and looking out your back window to he homeless deficating next to your property .
>^ Queensway would make a nice homeless encampment. Imagine a nice summer morning having your coffe and looking out your back window to he homeless deficating next to your property .
Have you ever walked the existing, abandoned tracks? It's already a homeless encampment.
"The reactivation of the old LIRR line would certainly relieve some of the congestion on Woodhaven Blvd. There is no North-South alternative. Most of the naysayers live next to the old RR line. They should have realized this was always a possibility when they bought the house." Really? You think? The homes were NOT BUILT when the rail deactivated. They were built later.
We nay-sayers are people who have actually LOOKED at the totally destroyed old LIRR line. There is nothing to re-activate. If you don't believe me, go look with your own eyes. There are just a few scattered rails and ties. No electrical remains, no structure. The high earth berm is narrow and hemmed in by private properties now, where people LIVE and PAY TAXES. The difficulty of getting materials and machinery in that (now) tight space to build a MODERN rail line FROM SCRATCH boggles the mind. But some morons will still say "oh, it can be done." Sure. Anything can be done. But can it? Will it? Stop day-dreaming and take a hike here and LOOK!
The artists' rendering of the proposed Queensway are laughable. They need to do new drawings showing bikes almost hitting pedestrians who then tumble down off the narrow berm, down the steep side, coming to rest against a private home-owner's back fence while awaiting help. How that help will get to them, no one knows.
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