A new mass transit line would connect Brooklyn and Queens.
The outer boroughs can often feel like an second thought when it comes to the New York City subway system . The oft - forgotten G Train is currently the only subway line run directly between Brooklyn and Queens , but Governor Kathy Hochul is hop to change that witha design for a new masses transit linedubbed the Interborough Express ( IBX ) .
Although there are many support and construction hurdle to absolved before the IBX could get the probability to whisk its first rider across the city , the enterprisingness appear to havefairly panoptic support from local political leader and residential district groups . So here ’s what you need to know about what could become NYC ’s unexampled transportation line .
Who Will It Serve?
The IBX would work on a pair of pre - existing rightfield - of - way called the Bay Ridge Branch and the Fremont Secondary , which stretch from South Brooklyn to central Queens . They have n’t have a bun in the oven passenger runway since 1924 , although cargo wagon train still run there . The plan outlines stops in neighborhoods like Bay Ridge , Borough Park , Flatbush , Canarsie , Brownsville , and Bushwick in Brooklyn , as well as Ridgewood , Maspeth , Middle Village , and Jackson Heights in Queens . It would connect to as many as 17 subway system line ( 2,3,5,7,A , B , C , D , E , F , J , L , M , N , Q , R , Z ) , and would work from end to terminate in less than 45 minute .
The neighborhoods the IBX would assist are over 70 % non - white . one-half of all residents in these areas do n’t own a elevator car , and one in four have limited fluency in English . Several of the neighborhood are considered transportation deserts , and the MTA estimates the line would appeal around 85,000 riders per day .
variation of the program have existed since the former ' ninety and have at metre attempted to continue service through Astoria into the South Bronx . However , according to the MTA , late feasibleness bailiwick found that the Hell ’s Gate bridge circuit between Queens and the Bronx — already used by Amtrak and MetroNorth — can not handle the extra electrical capacity that the IBX would generate .
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What Kind of System Will It Be?
The MTA ’s current architectural plan outlines three potential system : a conventional commuter rail akin to the Long Island Railroad or MetroNorth , a light rail arrangement more like a underground train , or a charabanc rapid transit system . Each has its drawbacks , and the MTA has yet to commit to a specific mode .
Due to federal regulation , only traditional rail is allowed to share track with freight trains , necessitating parallel or " flypast " tracks for any idle rail system . Bus lanes run parallel to existing railway tracks would have their own engineering challenge , while traditional track would be the slow of the three options .
How Much Will It Cost?
The real question on everyone ’s mind is the price . The MTA is famous for its ballooning budgets , with projections for Phase II of the Second Avenue Subwayrecently coming in at $ 3.5 billion per naut mi . While the IBX will have to struggle with the same eminent labor costs , it benefits from the exist substructure .
The business is almost entirely separated from the hem in biotic community with embankment or trench , and there are already rail track in situation . The MTA has not release a specific price estimation yet . Still , experts separate StreetsBlog New Yorkthat — depend on post pattern and engineering challenge associate to chokepoint — the price shred could be much down , in the " single - fingerbreadth billions " kitchen range for the integral 14 - mile flesh - out .
When Will It Open?
New York is n’t exactly get laid for its speedy transit construction timeline , as anyonewaiting for the Second Avenue Subwaycan narrate you . In early January , Governor Hochul disclose her IBXplan during her State of the State Addressand announced last week that it hadpassed a feasibility field . The project must now go through community outreach , environmental review , engineering , and design processes , and strong funding before mental synthesis could commence . NYC could be looking at a potential IBX opening closer to the goal of the X .
Image courtesy of the MTA
Courtesy of Governor Kathy Hochul
