New York: MTA Begins Environmental Review Process for IBX

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has announced the beginning of its environmental review process for the new Interborough Express (IBX) under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, forming the first major milestone for the IBX’s development.

Governor Hochul previously announced that the project had entered the preliminary engineering and design phase in August.

Governor Hochul said:

The IBX will dramatically improve the commutes of over 160,000 daily riders and we are moving full-speed ahead to keep this transformational project on track.

Beginning environmental review is yet another statement of intent that in New York, we don’t just talk about major infrastructure projects, we build them.

A series of three public meetings are now set to commence to explain both the scope of the project and the overall review process.

The first will be held on Wednesday 29 October at Brooklyn College, with a second meeting held Thursday 06 November at Christ the King High School in Middle Village, Queens and a virtual meeting set to take place on Wednesday 12 November.

All aspects of the environmental review process will run alongside the ongoing preliminary design and engineering phase of the project, and, following public outreach, the SEQRA process will produce a Draft Scoping Document before issuing a draft Environmental impact Statement on the entire project.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said:

900,000 New Yorkers live along the proposed IBX route, and we’re not going to waste any time advancing this project for them. Launching the State environmental review process gives us the momentum we need to move this transformational effort toward construction.

Once constructed; the 14-mile IBX line will run from Sunset Park in Brooklyn to Jackson Heights in Queens, using an existing freight corridor owned by the MTA Long Island Rail Road and CSX. It will feature 19 stations and provide connections to 17 subway lines, two Long Island Rail Road stations, and over 50 bus routes. Once completed, the route is expected to reduce end-to-end travel times to around 32 minutes.

The line will aim to connect over 900,000 New Yorkers living in underserved areas of both Brooklyn and Queens to the subway.