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Posted by
Gold_12th
on Mon Aug 18 19:09:44 2014
edf40wrjww2msgDetailB:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone's plan for north-south rapid-bus corridors, linking downtowns, businesses and research centers, is viable but will cost $78 million to implement along three recommended routes, a new county study says.
The $300,000 federally funded study, done by AECOM, a global design firm, calls for rapid-transit routes along 15 miles of Nicolls Road from Stony Brook University to Patchogue, and on 15 miles of Route 110 from Amityville to Huntington.
It also recommends a rapid-bus route along 17 miles of Sagtikos Parkway from Kings Park to Deer Park, but only if the huge 9,000-unit Heartland Town Square development in Brentwood is built.
"Suffolk County lacks a single north-south transit connection, making travel without a car extremely difficult," the study states. "Transforming mass transit commuting into a viable and attractive alternative for young job-seekers will provide an untapped potential to drive economic growth."
Bellone, who has dubbed the initiative "Connect Long Island," said the study proves bus rapid transit is viable and will get people out of their cars, ease traffic and reduce pollution.
"We cannot grow the economy by adding more cars to the road. We have to think about improving our ability to move people around," Bellone said. Using rapid-bus corridors "makes sense to connect the things and places people want to be."
The proposed system would rely on $600,000 hybrid buses traveling in dedicated lanes with expedited traffic signaling, preboarding fare collection and a network of shelter and bus stations -- a regime that has speeded up service by 15 percent to 30 percent in other areas where it is used.
Bellone said the system can't go forward without "significant aid" from the state and federal governments, and that more detailed studies are needed before construction could begin.
He estimated construction could not begin until 2016 and the first route would not open until at least 2018. Consultants say their cost estimates are based on 2013 dollars.
Legis. John M. Kennedy Jr. (R-Nesconset), minority leader, called Bellone's plan "a fool's folly" in light of the county's continuing $100 million structural deficit.
"Our infrastructure is crumbling and he is calling for more and more debt that my great-grandchildren will have to pay," Kennedy said. "It's the epitome of irresponsible government."
Bellone said the first priority would be the Nicolls Road route because Suffolk already has received a $1.5 million grant from New York State Energy Development Authority for design work.
While the study found Nicolls Road corridor has only 7 percent of jobs in Suffolk, the administration said the route is important because it would connect three major colleges and the growing Patchogue downtown and will have a connection to the planned Ronkonkoma Hub, its rail station and Long Island MacArthur Airport.
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/study-bellone-rapid-bus-plan-would-cost-78-million-1.8928856
A study on creating a bus rapid transit system on three of Suffolk's major roads has found that such a move would carry a $78 million price tag.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone's initiative, Connect Long Island, calls for creating north-south transit opportunities, the focus of the Suffolk County Bus Rapid Transit Feasibility Study.
The federally funded feasibility study considered creating bus rapid transit - or BRT - service that would travel the 16 miles between Amityville Village and Halesite in Huntington Town via Route 110; and travel the 15 miles between Patchogue Village and the Stony Brook Long Island Rail Road station via Nicolls Road.
It would also travel the 17 miles between the Deer Park LIRR station and downtown Kings Park via the Sagtikos State Parkway, but only if the former Pilgrim State Hospital site in Brentwood is developed as Heartland Town Square development, a plan for 9,000 housing units as well as office and commercial space.
The rapid transit plan would require an estimated $78 million in capital improvements for the roads — $58 million without the Sagtikos State Parkway. Each hybrid bus would cost $600,000, included in the $78 million estimate. A Bellone spokesperson said a total of 31 buses would be uses: 13 on Route 110, nine on Nicolls Road and nine on the Sagtikos.
If pursued, the project would be done in phases based on demand and funding. The feasibility study estimates annual operating costs would be around $3 million for each road.
The rapid transit system would carry commuters between the south and north shores and stations would be located at busy sites, like universities, LIRR stations and major employment and housing sites.
The report touts the plan as one that would speed up travel times for BRT commuters, as the buses would have designated lanes to bypass traffic. It would also help the environment by reducing congestion and pollution, the report states.
The feasibility study notes that the rapid transit plan is part of a larger plan to encourage development.
"To truly transform a corridor's economy, BRT needs to be paired with local sustainable land use plans to facilitate transit-oriented development," the report states.
The report also expects that ridership on the existing local bus routes would increase as the BRT is implemented, as Bellone explained the expectation that people would rely more on mass transit overall.
The county would apply for state and federal grants to pay for its implementation if officials decide to move forward.
The county has already gotten federal and state funding for engineering analysis and planning on Nicolls Road and Bellone said planning for Nicolls Road has been underway for a while.
Nicolls is a priority for the county, Bellone said, because funding is in place to get started ahead of Route 110 and Sagtikos.
"It's a corridor that connects a lot of the significant assets in our region."
Stony Brook University and the Selden campus of Suffolk County Community College would be two major stops along that route.
This is "designed to build an ecosystem here of downtowns that are connected by public transportation," Bellone said.
He hopes Connect Long Island will "reverse the brain drain and build an innovation economy. It's a plan for the future that builds upon existing assets."
Legislature Minority Leader John Kennedy Jr. opposes the idea, calling it unnecessary.
"I am very much [not persuaded] that there is some overwhelming need to move people" up and down these corridors, he said. "I just think that this is a concept that would require a tremendous amount of investment."
He would possibly support "a drastically reduced and scaled-down investment" on Route 110, where the Town of Babylon has already done a study and where commercial development may warrant it.
"It's somewhat mind-numbing that we would be advancing that conceptually at a time when there is some very little demonstrated need for that," he said of the overall study.
http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-News-i-2014-07-31-100113.112114-sub-Bus-plan-for-Suffolks-roads-would-cost-78-million.html
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