Action
Notice of intent to prepare an alternatives analysis/ environmental impact statement (AA/EIS).
Summary
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York City Transit (NYC Transit) intend to prepare an Alternatives Analysis/Environmental Impact Statement (AA/EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for transportation improvements in the corridor between LaGuardia Airport and Lower and Midtown Manhattan. MTA NYC Transit will ensure that the AA/EIS also satisfies the requirements of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. The work being performed will also satisfy the FTA's alternatives analysis requirements and guidelines. This effort will be performed in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York City Departments of Transportation and City Planning and the New York State Department of Transportation. Other interested agencies and elected officials or bodies include the New York State Office of the Governor, the New York City Office of the Mayor, the Office of the Borough President of Queens, the New York City Planning Commission, and the New York City Council. Its proximity to Manhattan makes LaGuardia Airport ideally suited to the Manhattan-bound business traveler. However, travelers to LaGuardia must use frequently congested highways (Grand Central Parkway, Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Long Island Expressway) and river crossings (e.g. Midtown Tunnel, Tri-borough Bridge). Peak period travel times between Manhattan and LaGuardia are frequently an hour or more, and uncertainty regarding travel times forces travelers to set aside even more time to avoid missing flights or appointments in Manhattan. Unless corrective actions are taken, these access limitations will reduce both the airport's appeal to travelers and the attractiveness of the city as a national and international center. Many other major cities in this country and abroad have direct rail rapid transit access to their airports. In contrast, transit service to LaGuardia is infrequent or inconvenient, with relatively high fares and lengthy and unreliable travel times in peak periods (since the available transit modes depend on the same congested highways and local streets). However, many LaGuardia passengers have origins or destinations within the Manhattan Central Business District (CBD), which has an extensive existing rail rapid transit network with extensions into Queens. This combination forms an established base from which an attractive transit link to the airport could potentially be built. Given these problems, the AA/EIS will evaluate public transit improvements in the corridor between Lower and Midtown Manhattan and LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York. In particular, the focus will be on proposed extensions of existing rail rapid transit (subway) lines that presently operate in Manhattan and Queens, and which would be extended along a selected alignment to provide service to the airport. Scoping of the AA/DEIS will be accomplished through correspondence with interested persons, organizations, and federal, state and local agencies, and through public meetings. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below for details. During the initial months of the AA/DEIS process, MTA NYC Transit will work with other agencies and with the general public to identify potentially feasible alternatives for providing prompt, reliable, dedicated access between Lower and Midtown Manhattan and LaGuardia Airport. These alternatives should take full advantage of the city's existing extensive public transit network, and provide travelers with a ``single-seat ride'' from points throughout the Manhattan CBD to the airport. Only those alternatives found to meet the project's needs, goals and objectives would receive detailed consideration in the AA/ DEIS. In addition to possible new transit lines or services, the AA/ DEIS will also evaluate a No-Build alternative and a Transportation System Management (TSM) alternative. See the Alternatives discussion under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below for details.