Duggan Square Station

Source for image: https://qns.com/2010/10/new-high-tech-traffic-tower-opens-at-laguardia-airport/

Proposal for Eileen P. Duggan Square Station

By Mohammad Qureshi

LaGuardia is the closest airport to Midtown, as well as the closest airport to the proposed IBX. A rail connection between the IBX and LGA would not only make getting to LaGuardia quicker from Midtown then either of the two other area airports. The location of an AirTrain station at 60th St and 31st Ave in Woodside, Queens, would also be ideal location for linking the IBX and the Metro North tracks to create a Arterial Rail line between three of the outer boroughs, serving commuters of all economic strata.

https://welcome2thebronx.com/2021/05/17/four-new-metro-north-stations-coming-to-the-bronx/

https://buffalochronicle.com/2022/01/21/hochul-directs-mta-to-construct-new-metro-north-station-in-astoria-queens/

Bus Connections And Northern Ferry Connection

This location is only two blocks (0.2 miles) from Northern Blvd., and offers connections via the QM 2, 3, 20, and 32 express buses. A slight re-routing of the Q18 bus could bring bus service to this station, connecting to Astoria and its ferry stop, with minimal impact on the community, as per their expressed wishes of community activists.

http://web.mta.info/nyct/maps/busqns.pdf

https://moovitapp.com/index/en/public_transit-line-Q18-NYCNJ-121-1822980-28351160-0

Southern Connection to Ferries

Ferry connections at the southern terminus of the IBX in Brooklyn could easily link to Staten Island's St. George Ferry terminal as well as onwards to New Jersey at Bayonne's ferry terminal current under construction at the former Military Ocean Terminal; MOTBY, as extensions of the South Brooklyn Route of NYC Ferry. This would expand cross use of both the IBX and the Ferry service by residents of the region as well as travelers.

https://www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/

BQX Streetcar?

Should the BQX streetcar be build, it could be extended to Duggan Station or a connection to the Q18 bus in Astoria would connect travelers to the IBX, MetroNorth and AirTrain.

https://www.brooklynqueensconnector.nyc/

Connection to JFK

One stop south on the IBX from this station, would allow travelers to connect to the Woodside LIRR station, and connect to JFK via the Jamaica AirTrain Station, or the AirTrain could be extended to this LIRR stop directly. Woodside LIRR is on the LIRR Mainline and therefore could have connections to both Grand Central or Penn Station. Seamless and high frequency connections between the LGA Air train, IBX, LIRR and JFK AirTrain could keep travel times competitive with rideshares during peak times while keeping expenses economical.

http://web.mta.info/lirr/AlternateRoute/Woodside.htm

CitiBike

This location is also along the Queens Bike path network, opening another option for visitors and residents alike.

https://www.nycbikemaps.com/maps/queens-bike-map/

Map

The current plan for the IBX, terminates at Roosevelt Ave. in Jackson Heights, Queens. If the line is extended a further 1.3 Miles north along the alignment to 60th St and 30th Ave. it would join the Metro North Alignment. A station here, where passengers could change trains to local trains along the Metro North alignment would open up direct service to both Penn Station and Grand Central (via East Side Access), as well as onward travel north to the Bronx and Connecticut. This location is along the route google maps outlines as along the fastest route by car if traveling to midtown.

Map based on the Original TriboroRX proposal but splits the route between IBX and Metro North with transfer at Duggan Square Station. AirTrain at Woodside LIRR would be the convergence of the LIRR Mainline and Port Washington Branch. While an AirTrain Stop at Duggan would be where it would meet the MetroNorth and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

A proposed Q train Expansion across 125th Street in Manhattan could be extended to Randall's Island, allowing for a connection to the MetroNorth/IBX network and the LGA AirTrain

Credit for some map suggestions to YouTuber MTAProdigy.

Site

This portion of the IBX alignment is owned by CSX (known as the "Fremont Industrial Track"), to 30th Ave. (58-11 30th Ave.), currently the site of a parking lot and light industrial area, but should not require the taking of any homes on either side of the alignments. Industrial businesses would have to be taken by eminent domain and the businesses compensated at fair market rates. A multi-story parking structure could offset the loss of the parking lots as well as supplement parking at LGA, due to the close proximity to major highways.

Vision

Building this missing link station would enable the city to connect to underserved parts of the city, attract investment, generate more jobs, and create the means to generate funding for more affordable housing, all of which the city is in dire need of it. The city would not need to offer tax breaks to attract larger investors and major international sports events, as the city's world class infrastructure would speak for itself. Should the city bid for the Olympics in the future (but in a more sustainable way, and with a serious eye to using any potential Olympics to push for building affordable housing), it wont be found wanting for infrastructure. It could also spur the investment, while affordable housing is being built, to build a massive "Queens Central Park" over Sunnyside yard, and be a lasting legacy for an Olympics partially centered at the site, especially possible if IBX and related transit improvements could make travel between the venues faster.

https://citylimits.org/2021/08/09/nyc2036-how-the-2012-olympics-bid-reshaped-new-york-city/

Expanding Access to High Speed Rail

This location could also be a stop for Amtrak's high speed train service Acela/Avelia Liberty, making it a more viable alternative for passengers at LGA connecting to smaller destinations in the region. This would be a similar model to what is being done in Germany between their high speed trains and German airports, and allow airlines at LGA and Amtrak to sell one ticket (or package deals per restrictions of New York Sate law) . This could also be a viable business model for Airlines at JFK and Newark, as well as other airports along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

https://simpleflying.com/deutshe-bahn-star-alliance-partnership/

Eileen P. Duggan

The name of this station, should be "The Eileen P. Duggan Square Station", as the current location is called the Eileen P. Duggan Square, named after a 35 year old mother of 3, PTA president and school crossing guard assigned to Corpus Christi Grammar School on the adjacent block, who was fatally struck by a sports car, on November 17, 1994, as she carried out her duties, helping schoolchildren safely cross the street. The use of more public transportation and reducing the number and speed of cars in the area would be a great way to honor her memory.

http://www.oldstreets.com/honor.asp?title=Duggan

https://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/98b/pr432-98.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/18/nyregion/crossing-guard-killed-at-queens-school.html

Building for the Future

A great city deserves world class infrastructure, and while New York is going through a rough patch, what better way to show hope for the future, then to build the kind of bold infrastructure that made the city great in the first place. Excelsior; Ever upwards