User:PrecipiceofDuck/sandbox 13

Readiness/Support Projects
These five "readiness projects" are under construction to increase peak-hour capacity across the LIRR system in preparation for expanded peak-hour service after the completion of East Side Access. Together, they are expected to cost $495 million.

Jamaica Capacity Improvements
These measures will increase capacity throughout the Jamaica station complex by redoing track layouts to straighten train paths and install high-speed switches. As part of the project, additional ladder tracks will be created, the E Yard track will be extended over 150th Street, the East Layup Track will be converted to be a through route. In addition, Brooklyn service will be converted into a shuttle service. This shuttle will operate between Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn and Jamaica via the Atlantic Branch. A new Platform F and dedicated tracks will be constructed south of the existing LIRR platforms at Jamaica station to serve the shuttles; passengers traveling between Brooklyn and Long Island will be required to make a walking transfer between this new platform and the existing platforms. This reconfiguration will allow for increased service between Brooklyn and Jamaica and between Jamaica and Manhattan and reduce switching maneuvers. Service frequency will increase for trains on the Atlantic Branch–trains will run every 7.5 minutes during rush hours and every 15 minutes during off-peak hours. It will allow for a 40% increase in peak-hour service between Jamaica and Manhattan. Completion of this project was originally projected for January 2018, but is currently planned for July 2019, at a cost of $301.7 million.

Massapequa Pocket Track
This pocket track will be built east of Massapequa station on the Babylon Branch. It will be built between the branch's two tracks, and 1,700 ft long, enough to fit a 12-car train. It will be used to turn trains beginning or ending trips at Massapequa, allowing for increased peak-hour service between Massapequa and Penn Station/Grand Central. The project is expected to cost $19.6 million. Construction on the bridge span over the Unqua Creek began in 2013, with construction of the pocket track beginning in 2014; the project was originally projected to be completed by November 2015, but is currently planned for completion in April 2019.

Great Neck Pocket Track & Colonial Road Bridge
This project consists of extending Track 2 on the Port Washington Branch, which ends as a pocket track east of Great Neck station, an additional 1,200 ft east, making it long enough to store two trainsets. This will allow the LIRR to increase the number of peak-hour trips between Great Neck and Penn Station/Grand Central. It also included replacement of the original Colonial Road Bridge, built in 1897, which passes over the area of the expanded pocket track, with a new bridge with wider lanes and built to reduce noise. Also included in the project are drainage improvements to the right of way to alleviate flooding on the tracks during storms. In 2010, several homeowners in the area opposed the project, arguing that construction would harm their quality of life. Representatives from the MTA stated that the expanded pocket track would not be used for overnight train storage or maintenance. The project was initially scheduled for completion in December 2015, but the new bridge was installed in April 2016, with construction of the pocket track scheduled for completion in December 2018, at a total cost of $45.2 million.

Port Washington Yard Track Extensions
This project involves extending two tracks in Port Washington Yard, adjacent to Port Washington station on the Port Washington Branch, to allow for storage of two additional ten-car trains. This will permit additional peak-hour service between Port Washington and Manhattan. Construction was originally supposed to begin in January 2016 and last for two years, but is currently scheduled to begin in late 2020/early 2021 instead, and be built for a cost of $500,000.

Mid-Suffolk Yard
This is an expansion of the existing rail yard along the Main Line/Ronkonkoma Branch adjacent to Ronkonkoma station. This expansion will add 11 new tracks, increasing the number of total tracks from 12 at present to 23. The expansion will use space already owned by the MTA located immediately to the south of the existing rail yard and north of MacArthur Airport. The increase in storage space will allow the MTA to increase peak-hour service to Manhattan. The project is budgeted for $128.0 million. Locations in Deer Park, Central Islip, and Yaphank were also considered for the construction of the yard. The Deer Park option was dismissed as it would have impacted several grade crossings, duplicated employee facilities and as it would not have benefited riders east of the station. The Central Islip site was dismissed as it would have been located in Connetquot River State Park. The Yaphank option was rejected because of the high cost of electrification and the requirement that stations between Ronkonkoma and Yaphank receive upgrades. Construction was expected to be finished by late 2018, but construction will start in September 2017, with completion being pushed back to March 2020.

Arch Street Yard and Shop Facility
The Arch Street Yard and Shop is located in Long Island City, near the Hunterspoint Avenue station. The yard itself has been in use since at least 1910. The Arch Street Facility includes tracks that were built on the right-of-way of the LIRR's former North Shore Branch. Although the branch formerly extended west to what is now the Gantry Plaza State Park, the Arch Street Facility's storage tracks only extend as far as 11th Street.

The LIRR planned a maintenance facility in the yard as part of the East Side Access project. The building was completed in either December 2004 or June 2005. The $80.4 million facility was built using a mix of federal and non-federal funds. The LIRR had built the Arch Street Facility in advance so it could test its then-new M7 cars. When the MTA planned the facility in 2002, it had anticipated that East Side Access would open in 2011 and that the Arch Street Shop could be used to maintain the LIRR fleet. It was thought that the Hillside Facility would not be able to maintain the expanded LIRR fleet on its own. However, after the East Side Access project was repeatedly delayed, the Arch Street Facility was ultimately leased and licensed for other uses.

Just south of the Arch Street Yard, the Montauk Cutoff connected the Main Line to the Montauk Branch until it was decommissioned in 2015. Part of the cutoff is being demolished to make room for a Midday Storage Yard as part of East Side Access. Tutor Perini is constructing the $291 million yard within the existing Harold Interlocking.

New Sunnyside station
A new LIRR train station in Sunnyside on the west side of Queens Boulevard and Skillman Avenue along the Northeast Corridor (which the LIRR uses to get into Pennsylvania Station) will be built, which will provide one-stop access for area residents to Midtown Manhattan. The station will have two side platforms and one island platform, which will all be able to accommodate 12-car trains. $76.5 million is budgeted for the construction of the station in the MTA's 2015–2019 Capital Program. Construction is scheduled to start in January 2021, and is expected to be completed in December 2022.

Main Line third track
Related to the MTA's East Side Access project is its long-planned widening of the two-track LIRR Main Line by adding a third track. Completion of Main Line third track construction was assumed during East Side Access project planning and referenced in the original East Side Access environmental impact statement as necessary to support service level increases caused by adding service to and from Grand Central. The MTA has said that it considers the Main Line third track an "essential" project to support East Side Access, and that the Main Line third track will "complement the East Side Access megaproject, which is doubling the LIRR’s capacity into Manhattan."

Main Line third track construction was deferred indefinitely by the MTA in 2008 due to budget constraints. In January 2016, Governor Cuomo and the MTA announced plans to restart construction of the Main Line third track. In December 2017, the LIRR awarded a contract for the project to the consortium 3rd Track Constructors for $1.8 billion, with construction beginning in 2018. Completion was estimated for 2022, in time for the opening of East Side Access.

Penn Station Access
Redirecting LIRR trains from Penn Station to Grand Central Terminal will free up track and platform space at Penn. This new capacity, as well as track connections resulting from the East Side Access project will allow Metro-North Railroad trains on the New Haven Line to run to Penn Station via Amtrak's Hell Gate Bridge. Four new local Metro-North stations in the Bronx are planned as part of this project, at Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester, and Hunts Point.

The project would provide direct rides from Connecticut, Westchester County, and the Bronx to West Midtown, ease reverse-commuting from Manhattan and the Bronx to Westchester County and Connecticut, and provide transportation service to areas of the Bronx without direct subway service.