Interborough Express enters environmental review process
Credit: MTA
The environmental assessment for the transformative Interborough Express (IBX) has officially begun, bringing the long-anticipated transit connection between Brooklyn and Queens one step closer to reality. On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced the start of the review process under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), marking another major milestone for the project after it entered the preliminary engineering and design phase in August. The MTA will host two in-person public meetings to outline the project scope and review process on October 29 and November 6, followed by a virtual session on November 12.
“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,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “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.”
The first session on October 29 will take place at Brooklyn College, followed by a second on November 6 at Christ the King High School in Middle Village. The final session will be held online on November 12, with registration available here.
Spanning 14 miles from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to Jackson Heights, Queens, the IBX would repurpose the existing Bay Ridge Branch rail line, offering end-to-end travel in just 32 minutes. The project would connect numerous underserved neighborhoods to subway lines and 51 bus routes, significantly reducing travel times between the two boroughs.
These neighborhoods include Sunset Park, Borough Park, Kensington, Midwood, Flatbush, Flatlands, New Lots, Brownsville, East New York, Bushwick, Ridgewood, Middle Village, Maspeth, and Elmhurst, as 6sqft previously reported.
Once completed, the IBX will be the first new end-to-end rapid transit line built entirely within New York City since the IND Crosstown Line, now the G line, which fully opened in 1937. The new stations in Queens will also mark the first transit expansion in the borough since the Archer Avenue extension of the E, J, and Z lines to Jamaica in 1988.
The project also has the potential to help address the city’s housing shortage. The New York Building Congress found in June that land-use changes along the proposed route could allow developers to build more than 70,000 new homes within a half-mile of the line. However, such changes could face significant hurdles, as the IBX would pass through neighborhoods with varying densities and differing levels of openness to new development.
Gov. Kathy Hochul first announced plans for the Interborough Express in her 2022 State of the State address, building on decades of proposals to transform the existing freight rail line between Brooklyn and Queens into public transit.
In August, the MTA approved the project’s full design during its monthly board meeting, awarding a nearly $166 million contract to the joint engineering venture Jacobs/HDR. The two-year agreement launches preliminary design development and includes a comprehensive scope of work—ranging from surveys and geotechnical and environmental studies to structural inspections—to move the project forward.
The environmental review will run concurrently with the ongoing preliminary design phase. Following public outreach, the SEQRA process will produce a draft scoping document, followed by a draft environmental impact statement for the project. The review will identify the potential environmental impacts and benefits of the IBX.
“900,000 New Yorkers live along the proposed IBX route, and we’re not going to waste any time advancing this project for them,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. “Launching the State environmental review process gives us the momentum we need to move this transformational effort toward construction.”
RELATED:
