Transit: After Delay, County Moves On Nassau Hub Transit
While the Long Island Lighthouse project, a plan to revitalize Nassau Coliseum and its surrounding area with a new arena, walkable downtown, office space and residential units, has recently gained momentum for Islanders owner and Long Island Lighthouse Development Group principal, Charles Wang, the project may have also served as a catalyst for the long delayed Nassau Hub transit study.
Last month, Nassau County released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Alternatives Analysis and Environmental Impact Statement (AA/EIS) for the transit component of the Nassau Hub, the centerpiece of County Executive Thomas Suozzi’s ‘New Suburbia’ vision. This vision would densify and expand transportation options in certain Nassau County locations to promote transit oriented development, curb suburban sprawl, retain Nassau County’s young people and generate new tax revenues.
The RFP deadline is August 13.
Located in the center of Nassau County, the Hub would, according to the Nassau County Planning Commission, include an area that encompasses the Nassau Community College, Hofstra University, EAB Plaza, Nassau Coliseum and Eisenhower Park. The rough northern boundary is Roosevelt Field and Source Malls; the southern border is Nassau County Government offices in Mineola.
The RFP builds upon the Nassau Hub Major Investment Study (MIS), commissioned in 2003 and completed in 2006, which identified numerous challenges facing the study area including high levels of roadway congestion, missing or disconnected linkages between transit stations and important cultural, education and entertainment activity centers, disjointed, auto-centric land use patterns and a dearth of north-south transit connectivity. The MIS also proposed new transportation options and smart growth land use strategies for central Nassau County, as possible remedies to these challenges. Transportation options included Light Rail Transit, Bus Rapid Transit and an Automated Guideway Transit system.
The firm selected to undertake this next step will select the best alternative for the area; then it continue with a full Environmental Impact Study. The process is expected to begin by the end of 2009.
This progress is a welcome development for a project that has been proposed for over a decade. Tri-State has been calling for a transit component for the Nassau Hub for almost as long. However, any of the outlined transit components to be studied are still years away from completion and implementation.
In the short term, Nassau County and the MTA should work together to fully fund the neglected Long Island Bus system that already operates within the Hub footprint and move rapidly towards creating a regional bus system, a system that will help rationalize LI Bus’ funding stream and allow for much needed expansion, and one that was identified in the recently released draft of the MTA’s 2010-2014 Capital Program.
from Mobilizing the Region
