Promising teamwork at Ronkonkoma

Now the Ronkonkoma hub -- one of the most promising major-scale projects on Long Island -- really gets interesting. With the towns of Brookhaven and Islip agreeing formally to work on it together, it can become a showcase of what transit-oriented development should look like. Even better, it can unlock the potential not only of the railroad station, but also of Long Island MacArthur Airport.

Brookhaven had been working for months on a plan for the area around the busiest Long Island Rail Road station in Nassau-Suffolk. With electrification at Ronkonkoma and a parking garage, the station became a major asset, providing a one-hour, one-seat ride to Penn Station. But the collection of retail establishments across from the modernized station lagged behind. In fact, Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko included it among the town's "monuments to blight" that he wants to redevelop.

So Brookhaven asked developers to express their interest in becoming a master developer to make the area north of the station an authentic downtown, including housing, retail and restaurants that will help the region retain more of its fleeing young people. Four developers expressed interest, and now the town has taken the next step, asking for developers to outline their qualifications for the job and say what their vision for it is. Brookhaven hopes that this latest document will attract more developers than the earlier one.

Now that Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan has worked out an agreement to join Brookhaven on this project, it opens the door to mixed-use development on the south side of the tracks as well. And it raises the real possibility of future expansion of the airport that Islip runs -- this time, maybe even with terminals very close to the railroad station, instead of a cab ride away. That would make it a true train-to-the-plane facility.

A crucial element will be a sewage treatment plant near the station, on Suffolk County property in Islip. It would serve the mixed-use projects both north and south of the tracks, accommodate further development of the airport, attract more businesses, and finally fix an unacceptable situation: The airport and surrounding businesses are not on sewers, but on septic systems. For a region that sits on top of a sole-source aquifer for drinking water, that's unsustainable.

The overall plan is not without its problems. Development on the south side of the tracks would displace parking. So additional tiered parking will be needed. The railroad also needs a train yard in the area, and those plans should go forward in a way that's compatible with the hub development. Also, though the sewage plant is crucial to the plan, getting it funded will take some doing. Happily, the Islip-Brookhaven agreement should help our region compete for funding through Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's regional economic development councils.

The key to this plan is that the two governments with the power to make land-use decisions at this spot are working together -- and they agree on the need to make Ronkonkoma a model for transit-oriented development. That spirit of cooperation must continue, to make this breakthrough for our region really happen.