Community Group Pushes For Bike Path Along LIRR Tracks

[railtrailbiker]

No one has ridden on the Rockaway Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road in over 40 years, but one Richmond Hill resident is pushing for the barren track to be converted into a bike path along the city’s Greenway.
Jordan Sandke, who is chairperson of the Rockaway Beach Branch Committee, a group he founded, has organized two bicycle tours of the LIRR right-of-way on Saturday, May 14th and Saturday, May 28th. Community Board 9’s Consumer Affairs and Transportation Committee will host a meeting on the proposal on April 18th.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?news ... 9522&rfi=6

[BMT]

I'm going to try and make one of those bike-tour dates. Wanna see what it looks like over there...

[Long Island 7285]

What part of the branch is passible, its all covered in trees prickly bushes and poison ivy, it hast to be clost to white pot this tour , is it?

[NIMBYkiller]

I love biking and would love to see more bike trails established throughout the island, especially within the city, but as great as a corridor this would be for a bike trail, I really think it would serve better with rail service.

I understand LIRR service is most likely out of the question, and subway service is not too far behind. However, light rail would work very well with this ROW. This is probably the only time I would suggest light rail on any abandoned RR ROW on LI.

I say run it light rail from Howard Beach, up the old ROW, then along the LIRR ROW for a few blocks, then over to Queens Blvd. Dedicate a lane in each direction towards the SIDES on Queens Blvd for the light rail. It is definately wide enough. Then run it over the Queensboro and into the abandonned trolley terminal.

It could be done as a part of a 2 line system, one being the rockaway ROW line and the other being the revertion(is that even a word?) of the Q60(?) to trolley/light rail.

If you think about it though, it makes sense and would actually be pretty easy, except for a few sections. The hardest part would be getting it over the Queensboro. They'd have to take out 2 lanes for it. Maybe they could let buses use the lane too.

Stops would include Queens Blvd(where the LIRR Sunnyside station is supposed to be built), that big mall in Rego Park(Queens Plaza Mall?), the old LIRR Rego Park, Winfield, and Woodhaven stations, along with a few of the other LIRR stations that were on the Rockaway, plus some others on Queens Blvd.

[jacksons]

This is so pathetic. That branch should have never been closed, it should have gone to the airport from the get go, even before the Jamaica Bay tressle was, "hit by lightning".
It's all so political, believe me, if someones re election dended on it, there would be trains leaving Penn for JFK every ten minutes. But rather than employ "logic" , they employ "Study Groups" to do feasibility studies on something thats already under their noses. Let's see, a train line that goes from Penn to JFK and connects at Atlantic Ave to Brooklyn and maybe downtown Manhattan, hmmm, can it be done? Not in NYC. Maybe we should call in the French, they built a railroad under the English Channel and said it was a "piece of quiche" all we want to do is go to Queens, but you still can't ger there from here. Only in NY children

[Tony Tantillo]

Hi,

I saw these posts last week, but have been busy.

It's all so political, believe me, if someones re election dended on it, there would be trains leaving Penn for JFK every ten minutes.

The Penn Station - Jamaica timetable centered around 11:30 p.m. on a Sunday show trains departing at 11:05, 11:14, 11:36, 11:42, and 11:48 p.m. for Jamaica. The major advantage of the current Air Train is that the transfer at Jamaica allows a far greater number of trains to service the Air Train. In addition to trains from Penn Station, trains from Flatbush and Long Island can drop off passengers for the JFK air train.

With the Rockaway Branch reactivation, only trains specifically routed to Ozone Park branch would make the trip. There would be less service.

That branch should have never been closed, it should have gone to the airport from the get go, even before the Jamaica Bay tressle was, "hit by lightning".

The Rockaway branch south of Ozone park was sold to the city in around 1956, if I'm not mistaken. Service to Ozone park ended ~ 1962. I believe at the time the LIRR was still a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania RR.

I say run it light rail from Howard Beach, up the old ROW, then along the LIRR ROW for a few blocks, then over to Queens Blvd. Dedicate a lane in each direction towards the SIDES on Queens Blvd for the light rail. It is definately wide enough. Then run it over the Queensboro and into the abandonned trolley terminal.

When I used to live in NYC, the Queens Blvd. subway and the Q10 bus was one of the public transit combination to get to JFK. Having light rail run up to Queens Blvd from Howard Beach would cut some time on the first leg of the trip, but you would be hard pressed to gain anytime on the subway.

[NIMBYkiller]

"With the Rockaway Branch reactivation, only trains specifically routed to Ozone Park branch would make the trip. There would be less service."

Actually, I think there was a track connection at Woodhaven to the Rockaway from the Atlantic for trains comming from FBA.

Also, there was the connection from the lower montauk for trains from LIC/Bushwick.

"but you would be hard pressed to gain anytime on the subway."

I'm not trying to gain time on the subway, though I think the time can be matched.

I want to see a one seat ride from the former Rockaway stops north of Howard Beach to 59th St via the Rockaway line instead of seeing a perfectly good ROW turned into some rail trail.

[badneighbor]

The ROW should have been used for the airtrain, not necessarily to put back the good old days of what sounds like were empty trains. What i've read, by the end of the Rockaway, ridership was down, and the RR was broke and had to kill a branch. It could have been worse, they could have shut more down.

[NIMBYkiller]

Imagine if Airtrain had been light rail. That way they could've extended the Howard Beach line onto the Rockaway ROW and then along Queens Blvd like in my idea, over the 59th St bridge.

[Tony Tantillo]

Actually, I think there was a track connection at Woodhaven to the Rockaway from the Atlantic for trains comming from FBA.

Also, there was the connection from the lower montauk for trains from LIC/Bushwick.

I believe you are right on both counts. I don't know what the condition the trestle over Woodhaven Blvd from the Lower Montauk to the to the LIRR Rockaway Branch is.

You still run into the problem of sending trains to a dead end branch if you allow the LIRR to run trains from LIC, FBA, or Penn. Additionally, if you run trains from LIC you have to contend with three of the remaining grade crossings in NYC at Rust Street in Maspeth, 87th Street in Glendale, and Borden Ave in LIC. (I'm not counting the grade crossing into the cemetary at Edsall and 73rd in Glendale).

Also as you know the New York and Atlantic's home is in Glendale, meaning running non-FRA passenger trains onto the lower Montauk branch is problematic.

I want to see a one seat ride from the former Rockaway stops north of Howard Beach to 59th St via the Rockaway line instead of seeing a perfectly good ROW turned into some rail trail.

The ROW is closer to rail trail than railroad, but assuming you had the financial resources, why not just extend the Queens Boulevard subway ?

[NIMBYkiller]

"Additionally, if you run trains from LIC you have to contend with three of the remaining grade crossings in NYC"

There are dozens more grade crossings, including Little Neck Parkway at the LIRR PW line. And it doesn't matter if there are grade crossings. Who cares? Arms go down, train goes past, arms go up.


"Also as you know the New York and Atlantic's home is in Glendale, meaning running non-FRA passenger trains onto the lower Montauk branch is problematic. "

Uhh...where did non-FRA come in? LIRR is FRA. And my light rail plan has it running only via the Rockaway ROW, Queens Blvd, and 59th St bridge. It only crosses the lower montauk.


"The ROW is closer to rail trail than railroad, but assuming you had the financial resources, why not just extend the Queens Boulevard subway ?"

So be it, but I'd still rather see it as a light rail line. And I still think that making it a light rail line to 59th st would be much better than a subway line.

[Tony Tantillo]

"Additionally, if you run trains from LIC you have to contend with three of the remaining grade crossings in NYC" There are dozens more grade crossings, including Little Neck Parkway at the LIRR PW line. And it doesn't matter if there are grade crossings. Who cares? Arms go down, train goes past, arms go up.

Here is a URL about grade crossings in NYC.

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/gra ... cross.html

Please note the attention given the Montauk Branch.

"Also as you know the New York and Atlantic's home is in Glendale, meaning running non-FRA passenger trains onto the lower Montauk branch is problematic. "

Uhh...where did non-FRA come in? LIRR is FRA. And my light rail plan has it running only via the Rockaway ROW, Queens Blvd, and 59th St bridge. It only crosses the lower montauk.

Ugh. I should rephrase this to read "... meaning if someone wants to run non-FRA trains like the Air Train onto the lower Montauk or other LIRR branch, problems with the FRA will occur."

"The ROW is closer to rail trail than railroad, but assuming you had the financial resources, why not just extend the Queens Boulevard subway ?"

So be it, but I'd still rather see it as a light rail line. And I still think that making it a light rail line to 59th st would be much better than a subway line.

I think the subway vs. light rail discussion should have happened 40 years ago.

[NIMBYkiller]

Lots of things should've happened a long time ago but they didn't and that's why we're here talkin bout em today.

[Long Island 7285]

thats why the defication that we tossed in the air years ago are now landing on our faces now.

blame polititics..
some times like in the case to rebuild a RR ROW needs a form of government we call dictator ship, and just do it and letem B**** after its been done. thats the ONLY way PROGRESS will happen, thats the ONLY way LIRR will SEE the TUNNEL of GCT PERIOD.

Dictator ship is needed.