As its agency reported: “Private developers, local planners, economic development professionals, and academic institutions were invited to the workshops to help understand the key factors that affect station area development, broader economic development, and barriers to development.”

In October 2014, an economic development workshop was held in Farmingdale to discuss the NEC Future proposal. Seemingly, these meetings outlined the project thoroughly, as the DEIS states: “Briefings on the program were also provided to Nassau and Suffolk Counties’ (New York) representatives to explain the program and discuss potential Long Island route options.” Officials from both counties were briefed in September and October of 2014. In 2013, a meeting on the NEC future proposal was held with Nassau County’s Department of Public Works as well as with Suffolk County’s Department of Economic Development and Planning. Starting that year, meetings were held with various transportation and railroad agencies, including the Port Authority of NY and NJ, the MTA and LIRR. This omission is especially troubling, considering that the public is being brought into the fold now, even though the planning process began in 2012. But hardly any input is being solicited for the 1.5 million or so residents who would be affected. It strives to set the tone for a developmental approach that local governments could take in the next five, 10 to 20 years. Politically, this project is both ambitious and unrealistic. Andrew Cuomo at a breakfast unveiling the governor’s 2016 agenda. Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano (left) and his counterpart in Suffolk, Steve Bellone (center), join Gov. This isn’t to say that some local officials aren’t aware of the NEC Future project. Why are there public hearings set for Nassau County, New York City and other impacted areas, but not in Suffolk County, where a significant portion of this project is planned to be? For the length of LI, a lone public hearing is scheduled at the Nassau County Municipal Building, 1550 Franklin Ave., next Tuesday. The draft statement raises significant questions that extend far beyond the realm of “how are they going to build it?” The most disconcerting comes from the seemingly lackadaisical public input process.

According to the draft statement, “roughly 75 trains a day” would connect Ronkonkoma and Boston’s South Station through its proposed Alternative 3 route option. Trains along the route might routinely reach speeds of nearly 160 mph, with stations placed at major existing transit hubs such as Ronkonkoma. Additional information is at The Foggiest Idea, my online land use resource, which first broke the story in December on how the proposal could impact Long Island.įor us here, the proposal entails an all-new high speed rail network that stretches from Floral Park to the Village of Port Jefferson, where it travels 22 miles under the Long Island Sound via a tunnel to emerge in New Haven. The specifics can be found within the Tier 1 Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The goal is the creation of an investment program that will guide passenger rail service improvement projects through 2040. Since 2012, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has been preparing a comprehensive plan for the Northeast Corridor (NEC) to improve service and resiliency of the much-travelled route between Boston and Washington, D.C. “We’re hopeful that we’ll get the turnout to hear what folks are thinking about the effort,” said Rebecca Reyes-Alicea, the Federal Railroad Administration’s Northeast Corridor Future Program manager. Surprisingly, aside from a few well-connected insiders, most Long Islanders haven’t heard about this project, but they’ll get their first chance to express themselves at public hearing in Mineola on Jan. The federal government is proposing a multi-billion-dollar monumental expansion of the Northeast Corridor passenger rail line that, if realized, would run high-speed trains straight through the heart of Long Island.

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