Lower Manhattan-Jamaica/JFK Transportation Project

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The Lower Manhattan-Jamaica/JFK Transportation Project is a proposed public-works project in New York City that would use the Long Island Railroad Atlantic Avenue Line and a new tunnel under the East River to connect a new train station at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub site with John F. Kennedy International Airport and Jamaica Station on the LIRR. It would allow one-seat, 36 minute travel between JFK airport and lower Manhattan, cut commuting times from Long Island by up to 40% and reduce pressure on the crowded east side subway lines in Manhattan. A feasibility study has been completed that considered several other options, including using the existing BMT Montague Street Tunnel, or the IND Cranberry Street Tunnel. It recommended constructing a new tunnel. The study estimated that as many as 100,000 riders would use the new services on an average weekday.

The Lower Manhattan-Jamaica/JFK Transportation Project has been a priority of New York Governor George Pataki. Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer has said that he does not view the project as a top priority, compared to construction of the Second Avenue Line, LIRR East Side Access, or replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge, and wants a careful evaluation of the benefits of the costly project. [1]