‘QueensLink’ receives $400K grant to study reactivation of abandoned railway
All images courtesy of QueensLink
A plan to reactivate a deserted railway as the first north-to-south subway line in Queens just got a financial boost from the federal government. The nonprofit group behind QueensLink, a proposal extending the M train from Rego Park to the Rockaways along the abandoned Rockaway Beach Branch with accompanying bike paths and trails, received a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) as part of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program. The funds would pay for a study measuring the impacts of the project, which the group hopes could bring more support for QueensLink; it is currently competing against a separate project to build a linear park on the same railway.
QueensLink calls for reactivating the former Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Beach Branch line, abandoned for over 60 years, and creating four new stations with transfers to the A, J, Z, E, F, R, and 7 trains and the LIRR.
Queens residents experience some of the longest commute times in the country, with no rail transit or cycling infrastructure linking its northern and southern halves. As a result, many are forced to rely on slow public transit options like buses.
Advocates say reviving the railway could address critical equity issues, particularly for residents in areas considered transit deserts, with a focus on neighborhoods in Southern Queens.
Several organizations and public officials have voiced support for the project, including Sen. Charles Schumer, Council Members Bob Holden and Joann Ariola, State Rep. Zohran Mandani, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
QueensLink is facing competition from a plan backed by Mayor Eric Adams. QueensWay would convert the railway into a High-Line style park stretching 47 acres with seven miles of greenway, but without a public transit component.
The plan received $35 million from the mayor in September 2022 for phase one, which would turn a portion of the railway between Metropolitan Avenue and Union Turnpike into a five-acre public park and 0.7 miles of greenway in Forest Hills. Last March, Adams announced that NYC Parks and Trust for Public Land won a $117 million federal grant for the second phase of QueensWay, which includes a 1.3-mile extension of the greenway into Forest Park.
On Thursday, a group of elected officials wrote a letter to the mayor asking for a study of QueensLink before any construction begins on QueensWay, which could impede the reactivation of the rail line, according to a post on X by Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers.
“Given the city’s historic underinvestment in our community and our transportation infrastructure, it is our firm belief that Southeast Queens deserves a more robust, more accessible subway network,” the letter reads.
“QueensLink is worthy of careful study to judge its feasibility and potential to serve community members, and we urge the Administration to not commence any construction that would potentially endanger this project’s viability.”
The MTA has not officially supported reactivating the Rockway line. In 2016, the agency studied the feasibility of reactivating the line and found it would cost over $8 billion. QueensLink commissioned its own study and found the project could be done at half the MTA’s projected cost.
The MTA has previously said the city’s QueensWay plan will not “impact any future MTA transportation initiatives,” 6sqft noted.
To appeal to supporters of the linear park, QueensLink advocates now push for a “rails and trails” solution, which preserves the park aspect while also extending the M line and enhancing transit access for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.
“We are honored to receive this grant from the United States Department of Transportation, which brings us one step closer to making the QueensLink vision a reality,” Rick Horan, executive director of QueensLink, said. “With this grant funding, we’ll be able to show citizens and decision-makers just how impactful the project will be. We firmly believe that QueensLink’s emphasis on transit equity, climate change mitigation, and small businesses will benefit everyone.”
While the financial boost from the U.S. DOT is a positive sign for QueensLink, its future remains uncertain.
However, the Interborough Express, another transformative transit project that will connect Brooklyn and Queens is already underway. In October, the MTA issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the preliminary engineering and design phase of the 14-mile light rail line and kicked off an environmental review with the federal government.
Stretching from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to Jackson Heights, Queens, the project will repurpose the existing right-of-way Bay Ridge Branch rail line, connecting transit-deprived neighborhoods to 17 subway lines and 51 bus routes while significantly reducing travel times between the two boroughs.
These neighborhoods include Sunset Park, Borough Park, Kensington, Midwood, Flatbush, Flatlands, New Lots, Brownsville, East New York, Bushwick, Ridgewood, Middle Village, Maspeth, and Elmhurst.
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