By Hector Flores
Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg, a Democrat of Merrick who is chairman of the Legislature¹s Planning, Development and Environment Committee, said that the county is close to finding a viable ³interior² transportation solution for the Hub study area, which includes nine communities: Mineola, Carle Place, Westbury, Salisbury, East Meadow, Uniondale, Hempstead, Garden City and Mitchel Field.
The announcement was made at a committee hearing on March 1. ³This is the end of the beginning,² Denenberg said. ³For the last two years the county has undergone a major investment to find a transportation solution into, out of and around the Hub. This completes the study, and we are now moving into the environmental impact study of the preferred alternatives.²
Patrick Duggan, deputy county executive for economic development, added, ³We are very excited to be at this point. The Hub is the center of economic development in the county. There has been a lot of building. This study is crucial. Unless we develop alternative means of transportation, the Hub will not be a success.²
The committee started with nine possible solutions, but has narrowed its selection to three choices: a bus rapid transit, using high-capacity buses that run along exclusive roadways; light rail transit, lightweight passenger rail cars that operate as either single-car or multiple-car trains on fixed rails; and automated guideway transit, an automated transit system that operates without a crew, with computers controlling speed, spacing and stops.
Each transportation system would link the Hub¹s boundaries, from the EAB plaza on the southeast to Roosevelt Field on the northwest, and include the Nassau Coliseum, Mitchel Field, Hofstra University and the Source Mall. The system would be linked to the Long Island Rail Road via connections as far north as Oyster Bay, Hicksville to the east, Freeport to the southeast and Valley Stream to the southwest.
Denenberg said that the project would reduce property taxes by increasing the Hub¹s commercial potential. So far, the area¹s three square miles, with 15 million square feet of commercial and office space, generates $50 billion in annual revenue. But as the Hub develops, legislators have seen the need to develop alternative means of transportation for two reasons. First, to increase access to the Coliseum and Mitchel Field, and second, to decrease the potential for pollution.
It is hoped that alternative transportation will reduce traffic congestion around the Hub by 15 percent. ³By developing the area, we will collect more business taxes and create jobs,² Denenberg said. ³We also have three major college centers, museums, a convention center and a Coliseum that is subject to two bidders, the Mets and the Islanders. For this area to succeed, we need a viable transportation solution.²
Denenberg added that any of the alternative transportation systems would be subjected to an environmental study funded by the federal government.
More information is available at Denenberg¹s office, at (516) 571-6219.
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
