Connect Long Island plan eyes mass transit

Warning of the impending "systemic failure" of the region's automobile-based lifestyle, municipal leaders and Long Island Rail Road officials Thursday announced a sweeping plan to expand mass transit, link downtown developments and remove thousands of vehicles from roads.

Elements of the plan -- a second railroad track on the LIRR Ronkonkoma line, a reopened Republic Airport LIRR station and rapid bus transit along Route 110 that together would cost $427 million -- have been proposed before.

But, said Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone, "it's the first time all the pieces have been put together in one plan that shows our region has a cohesive strategy for economic growth."

Connect Long Island, as the plan is called, would link some proposed downtown housing and commercial developments from Mineola to Patchogue. One of those, the $500 million Wyandanch Rising project, could begin construction next year.

Town and village officials from Suffolk and Nassau joined Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick), chairman of the state Senate's Transportation Committee, for the announcement, which came as the deadline nears for planners to submit a list of key projects to Albany for consideration for a piece of $1 billion in state and federal grants and tax credits.

"We are just trying to do things in a smart manner that will be received well in Albany when we go to them for funding," said Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan.

Funding proposals for some of Connect Long Island's projects are likely to be submitted in coming weeks, Bellone said.

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

But he said the second rail line, one of the plan's biggest components with an estimated cost of $340 million, would not likely be ready.

The plan drew mixed reaction. Eric Alexander of Vision Long Island, a smart-growth advocacy group, said with demand for housing with mass transit access growing rapidly, a plan for regional transit infrastructure was "visionary and logical."

But Lee Koppelman of Stony Brook University's Center for Regional Policy Studies, was skeptical. He noted there have been calls for adding a track to LIRR's Main Line since 1964.

Long Island's track record is not good for the sustained political will and public subsidy a mass transit system needs, he warned.

With Sarah Crichton, Yamiche Alcindor and Sophia Chang