**Long Island Rail Road East Side Access**

**New York, New York**

(November 2006)

# Description

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) Long Island Rail Road
(LIRR) is constructing a new direct 3.5-mile commuter rail extension
from LIRR's Main and Port Washington Branch Lines in Long Island and
Queens, to Grand Central Terminal (GCT) on Manhattan's East Side. The
project includes the construction new tunnels beneath Sunnyside Yard
connecting to the currently unused lower level of the 63^rd^ Street
Tunnel beneath the East River. In Manhattan, the project will continue
west beneath 63^rd^ Street and toward Park Avenue under the Lexington
Avenue subway, turning south beneath the existing MTA-Metro North
Railroad tracks under Park Avenue to a new LIRR passenger concourse in
the lower level of GCT. At GCT, the project will provide new tracks,
platforms, entrances, waiting areas, ticket windows, and other services.

The current highway system and East River crossings (bridges and
tunnels) to Manhattan from Nassau/Suffolk (and parts of eastern Queens)
are at capacity and subject to severe congestion and long delays.
Expansion of the highway network is not feasible due to lack of
available rights-of-way, high costs, and potentially adverse
environmental impacts in a "severe" non-attainment area for ozone. The
LIRR operates at capacity in this area with peak service of 37 trains
per hour into its only Manhattan terminal at Penn Station. Nearly half
of LIRR's 106,000 existing daily riders have destinations on Manhattan's
East Side, and currently spend approximately 20 minutes "doubling back"
from Penn Station on the island's West Side. Without the project, future
LIRR trains to Penn Station will be severely congested, and are
projected to operate at 27 percent over their passenger-carrying
capacity. This level of crowding and discomfort would discourage or
prevent new riders from using the LIRR to reach Manhattan. By
redirecting trains to GCT, this congestion would be relieved and added
capacity for Amtrak and New Jersey Transit service would be created at
Penn Station.

The total project cost under the Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) is
\$7,386.00 million. The Section 5309 New Starts funding share is
\$2,632.10 million.

# Status

# MTA completed a major investment study for the project corridor in April 1998. FTA approved MTA's request to advance the project into preliminary engineering in September 1998. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was completed in May 2000; a Final EIS was completed in March 2001; and an environmental Record of Decision was issued by FTA in May 2001. Under a Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) authority MTA began construction in late 2001. The LONP authority approved was \$1,080.04 million, which was liquidated upon FFGA execution. FTA approved the project into final design in February 2002. FTA issued a supplemental environmental Finding of No Significant Impact in July 2006, due to the redesign of a vent facility at 50^th^ Street. MTA and FTA entered into an FFGA in December 2006, with revenue operations scheduled for December 2013. 

SAFETEA-LU Section 3043(b)(20) authorized the LIRR East Side Access
project for final design and construction.  Through FY 2006, Congress
has appropriated \$587.77 million in Section 5309 New Starts funds for
the project. 

    

+----------------------------+--------------+-------------------------+
| # **Reported               |              |                         |
| Reported in Year of Expend |              |                         |
| iture Dollarsxpenditure**  |              |                         |
|  {#reportedreported-in-yea |              |                         |
| r-of-expenditure-dollarsxp |              |                         |
| enditure .Table-Heading-1} |              |                         |
+----------------------------+--------------+-------------------------+
| **[Source of               | **Total      | **[Appropriations to    |
| Funds]{.underline}**       | Funding      | Date]{.underline}**     |
|                            | [            |                         |
|                            | (million)]{. |                         |
|                            | underline}** |                         |
+----------------------------+--------------+-------------------------+
| **Federal:**               | \$2,632.11   | \$587.77 million        |
|                            |              | appropriated through    |
| Section 5309 New Starts    | \$11.20      | FY 2006                 |
|                            |              |                         |
| FFGA Commitment            | \$22.98      |                         |
|                            |              |                         |
| Flexible Funds (CMAQ)      | \$16.26      |                         |
|                            |              |                         |
| Section 5309 Fixed         |              |                         |
| Guideway                   |              |                         |
|                            |              |                         |
| Modernization Funds        |              |                         |
|                            |              |                         |
| Section 5307 Urbanized     |              |                         |
| Area                       |              |                         |
|                            |              |                         |
| Formula Funds              |              |                         |
+----------------------------+--------------+-------------------------+
| **State:**                 | \$450.00     | []{.mark}               |
|                            |              |                         |
| State Transportation Bond  | []{.mark}    |                         |
|                            |              |                         |
| Act of 2005                |              |                         |
+----------------------------+--------------+-------------------------+
| **Local:**                 | []{.mark}    | []{.mark}               |
|                            |              |                         |
| MTA Dedicated Sources      | \$3,217.35   |                         |
| (bonds, surplus toll       |              |                         |
| revenues, etc.)            | \$1,036.10   |                         |
|                            |              |                         |
| MTA Operating Budget       |              |                         |
+----------------------------+--------------+-------------------------+
| **TOTAL**                  | **           | []{.mark}               |
|                            | \$7,386.00** |                         |
+----------------------------+--------------+-------------------------+
| **NOTE:** The sum of the   |              |                         |
| figures may differ from    |              |                         |
| the total as listed due to |              |                         |
| rounding.                  |              |                         |
+----------------------------+--------------+-------------------------+

MAP