Zip Around Brooklyn on the Subway!
Never mind increased tolls — how about a new subway line for the outer boroughs? The proposed Triboro Rx line, aka the X, would knit together now hard-to-reach spots in Brooklyn — and make it easier to zoom over to Queens and the Bronx. Anyone who lives here knows only a car or bike are…
Never mind increased tolls — how about a new subway line for the outer boroughs? The proposed Triboro Rx line, aka the X, would knit together now hard-to-reach spots in Brooklyn — and make it easier to zoom over to Queens and the Bronx.
Anyone who lives here knows only a car or bike are practical on certain routes — say, when traveling from Park Slope to eastern Bed Stuy, or from Bushwick to Jackson Heights, Queens. The latter route is 15 minutes by car but an hour and a half via subway and requires two transfers and three lines.
According to a report the Regional Plan Association published this month, detailed by Capital New York, the line would be relatively easy and affordable to create because it will run mostly above ground on existing freight train routes. The idea was first floated in the mid-1990s, and City Comptroller Scott Stringer advocated it when he was Manhattan borough president.
One thing the planners seem to have left out, though: It doesn’t go to Red Hook. But it does knit together Bay Ridge, the Brooklyn Army Terminal and Sunset Park, Brooklyn College, East New York, the far end of Bushwick, Jackson Heights and other parts of Queens, up to Co-Op City in the Bronx! To put it another way, the 7, the L, the 2, and the F — among many others — will now be connected (in the outer boroughs).
Imagine how easy this would make commuting to, say, factory jobs in industrial areas for folks who live in what are now relatively affordable areas.
What do you think of the proposal? What effect do you think it would have on rents and property values in the areas served?
R.P.A. Calls, Again, for Outer-Borough X Line on Freight Tracks [Capital]
Report: Overlooked Boroughs [Regional Plan Association]
Map via Capital NY
I love it, it’s great.
Since Manhattan continues to become more the island of the super wealthy, the middle and working classes could more easily avoid it, and do more business in the outer boroughs.
Looks interesting. But it wouldn’t do anything for the hypothetical journey from Park Slope to eastern Bed-Stuy mentioned in the article. I agree with alexmax. The G already exists, connects a lot of neighborhoods that would take forever to get to otherwise, and services neighborhoods that are rapidly developing. Yes, it provokes a lot of groans, but because of its (albeit improving) reliability issues, not because of its route. A bit of investment there would go a long way.
no. we need that railway for more freight train traffic, so we can finally reduce the number of horrible smoke-spewing 18 wheelers on our streets.
A stop at Broadway Junction (rather than at East New York) would add the A/C & J/Z to the list of connecting lines.
As someone that is constantly travelling to and from different parts of the borough regularly this would be a dream. No, it would be a fantasy!
Build it above ground for old times sake.
It’s planned along existing freight tracks, so you’re in luck. It would indeed be above ground.
There was an active plan to build a Red Hook streetcar line in the early 2000s sponsored by a private organization, but the city pulled the plug. That’s why there’s an old streetcar sitting in front of the Red Hook Fairway.
The problem with streetcars is that they get stuck in traffic just like a bus, but unlike a bus can’t go around vehicles blocking the tracks. So really a streetcar wouldn’t improve things much. A dedicated bus lane or rail line that doesn’t mingle with traffic is what’s really needed, perhaps along the waterfront to connect to downtown.
I agree. I think the MTA/City need to be open to limited street car use in certain underserved neighborhoods like Red Hook. From what I gather, the construction and operation of street cars is less expensive than building traditional subway or elevated tracks, though they cost more than expanding bus service.
That doesn’t address anything different about the current train setup. Basically if you want to go from sunset park to bushwick you would have to take the R into manhattan then the L; or take the R to the G to the L. Either way it takes over an hour, when they run in night mode, about 2 hours. This proposal is one train.
Bringing everything to Atlantic only emphasizes what already exists and doesn’t really help other neighbs or congestion that Atlantic already has to deal with. The G doesn’t reach a lot of neighborhoods and as trains go it’s usually voted as one of the worst lines in the entire city.