A couple years ago I saw things for a light rail system along the entire 42nd Street. Along with another one for 34th Street.
Are they going to happen?
I seriously doubt that this will happen. Light rail would have little to no time advantage over any existing surface bus routes in midtown Manhattan.
I could see it happening as an elevated monorail before I could even imagine anyone building it at surface level. Manhattan traffic is a nightmare now, and any pol suggesting a ban on private wheels would be looking for honest work after the next election. As long as there are private cars on the crosstown arterials, there WON'T be street rails.
Chuck (native Noo Yawka 2500 miles removed)
zkr123 A couple years ago I saw things for a light rail system along the entire 42nd Street. Along with another one for 34th Street. Are they going to happen?
Short answer: NOPE.
LION has plan for LRV above 34th Street. (Much better than 42nd) It comes in the form of a four level mall structure with bridges crossing both the East River and the Hudson River to serve large Park and Ride facilities in those locations.
The lowest level of this structure is of course the street. It is as it is. The next level up is the LRV system. No fare collection at all. You pay a double fare if you enter in Queens or New Jersey, and is included in your parking fee. Within manhattan it is assumed that you will be making a connection to a bus or subway and will pay the fare there.
The third level is a mall. This is what generates the interest and the funding. Connections to the buildings and other properties adjoing 34th Street provides access to the buildings and the buildings would be the ones to rent out the space in the mall adjacent to their buildings, so it is a win-win-win for the property owners. The fourth level is, welll, the roof, which is a prominade and is where the pedestrian traffic would be found, together with open air cafes etc.
By making it a business and civic enterprize instead of just a trolley track it attracts interest and funding.
A fifth level between the street and the LRV might be an express highway connection between the Lincoln and the Midtown tunnels. Cars only, it would have a toll of its own, yet as an access road it escapes a lot of the regulation pertaining to Interstate routes. It can only be accessed in Queens or in New Jersey and has no regular street coneections to anything Manhattan. Toll (eZ pass only) would be about $10.00
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
BroadwayLionLION has plan for LRV above 34th Street. (Much better than 42nd) It comes in the form of a four level mall structure with bridges crossing both the East River and the Hudson River to serve large Park and Ride facilities in those locations
This would be a good idea except that the clear span for the required Hudson crossing is likely to be too high for practicality, even with LRV-style 'ramps' as seen in some of K.P.Harrier's Gold Line thread pictures.
A Trans-Manhattan highway? Robert Moses would've loved you! Why not a bridge at the Battery going to Brooklyn while you're at it?
54light15 A Trans-Manhattan highway? Robert Moses would've loved you!
A Trans-Manhattan highway? Robert Moses would've loved you!
Moses would hate it -- half the structure would involve rail. The idea is that the traffic 'transiting' NYC -- the lion's share of the trucks, for example (no pun intended) would be directed to this route through a combination of 'carrots and sticks', leaving the existing vehicular crossings to Manhattan more 'open'. As I originally designed the Transmanhattan (in the late '70s), it would have had double track with stack clearance, allowing for 'train ferry' and intermodal service straight up to a Hell Gate route connection essentially 'at grade' (elevated grade, that is!)
Why not a bridge at the Battery going to Brooklyn while you're at it?
I'm still irritated at the boneheads that took down the elevated sections of the West Side Highway that ran right around the lower tip of Manhattan without lights. Got to drive it exactly once (in the '62 T-Bird with the top down, making it even sweeter), thinking it would 'always' be there later. Hey! you could run the bridge off a reconstructed elevated section (we could even call it an 'automotive High Line!), with a helpful exit onto Governor's Island as you go. And have someone like Frank Gehry design it, so it's not an eyesore, it's a new landmark! THEN make the pitch to use Lion's 34th-Street-style construction, with several stories of great, great commercial opportunities integrated with the transit functionality. At least as much of a 'winner' for the NYC architectural experience as Johnson's chest of drawers was!
Just promise me it won't be 'Neo-Gravesian'... ;-}
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Anyplace you go in a 62 T-bird ragtop is the place to be! Getting there in a "Bullet Bird" is strictly going in style! I love trains but I love my 62 Lincoln and 54 Citroens too.
New York is not an auto-friendly town, and attempts to make it such have usually made matters worse. Better let the trucks and other through traffic avoid Manhattan completely.
I'm not sure if there's a need for light rail along 42nd street. There are already two subway lines, the Grand Central - Times Square Shuttle and the 7 serving the corridor.
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
GP-9_Man11786 I'm not sure if there's a need for light rail along 42nd street. There are already two subway lines, the Grand Central - Times Square Shuttle and the 7 serving the corridor.
In addition to the Shuttle and the Number 7 to Flushing, there is the M42 bus. It is a pleasant public transit option for those who are not in a hurry to get across town at 42nd street.
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