MTA’s 5-Year Capital Spending Plan OK, But Transportation Bond Act Needs Voters’ Approval In Nov.
By John Toscano

Although the state legislature approved the Metropolitan Transportation Authority five-year capital construction and maintenance plan last week, in November voters will still have to approve spending about $3 billion more to give the go-ahead to future transit projects.

Authorization for continued funding of these projects, among them the Second Avenue subway, the Long Island Rail Road connection to Manhattan’s East side, the Downtown Manhattan-to-JFK link, and $171 million in improvements to the Kew Gardens interchange are contained in the Transportation Bond Act which will be on the November ballot.

About half the money from the bond act will go to the MTA for the above named projects and others; the other half will go to the state Department of Transportation for major highway and bridge improvements throughout the state.

The bond act approval is required to provide the state’s share of these important projects before the federal government will contribute any funding for them.

Recommending approval of the bond act and the vital projects, state Senator Frank Padavan (R–C, Bellerose) stated: “All in all, this transportation plan helps deliver desperately needed upgrades and investment in our infrastructure. Mass transit is important to all New Yorkers. It provides relief to our environment while opening up the vast expanse that is New York. Investing in our infrastructure is vital because our infrastructure is key to New York’s future and our success.”

Padavan said the Kew Gardens Interchange improvements will be made in the area where Queens Boulevard crosses over the Grand Central and Jackie Robinson Parkways. Thousands of cars pass through the interchange every day and it is one of the most vital transit links in Queens.

From the bond act, $450 million will be devoted to the East Side Access project, linking LIRR trains from Long Island City to Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan’s East Side for the first time. Presently all LIRR trains end their runs at Penn Station.

Another $450 million is earmarked from the bond act for the Second Avenue subway project, still in its earliest stages, and another $100 million is tagged for the link to Kennedy Airport from Downtown Manhattan.

Addressing the proposed bond act, Councilmember John Liu (D–Flushing), chair of the council Transportation Committee, said that the MTA must make an all-out effort to restore public confidence in its operations if it expects the referendum to be passed by the voters.

Presently, he said, “Public confidence is at an all-time low.”

The proposal for the bond act was contained in the $36 billion, five-year MTA capital budget approved by the state legislature last Friday.

The plan will invest almost $15 billion on core system improvements. Liu hailed the announced passage of the budget, saying, “The construction and repair projects that the MTA’s capital plan provides for are absolutely necessary to keep the subway system in a state of good repair.”