Q&A
Addressing congestion and parking concerns related to Metro North stations
0:53:50
·
177 sec
Council Member Amanda Farías raises concerns about congestion and parking issues that may arise from the new Metro North stations. She inquires about potential public parking solutions and alternatives to mitigate traffic congestion. Representatives from City Planning, DOT, and MTA respond to her questions.
- Farías asks about potential use of underutilized surface parking areas near station sites
- Paul Philps mentions that private developers are seen as a resource for providing additional parking
- DOT representative discusses their toolkit for addressing congestion, including bike lanes and bus lanes
- MTA representative states that while parking is not within the scope of the station project, they are open to working with third-party developers on future parking solutions
- Farías suggests considering angled parking near the station to increase parking spots
Amanda Farías
0:53:50
I appreciate that response.
0:53:52
I, you know, each PD should be here today.
0:53:55
As we know, a lot of their programs take anywhere from 5, 6, 8 years to actually be followed through on while some of the development between my district and consumer Ramorado's district maybe have the capacity to have that length of time.
0:54:10
There's a couple also that do not, so but appreciate that answer.
0:54:15
As the theme that my colleagues and I continue to bring up on behalf of our arrangements, it is congestion as big a talk of the town already as it is.
0:54:23
We welcome more affordable housing community space economic opportunity and park investments, but we cannot escape the fact that the Metro North will not simply be for our communities, but for residents from across Bronx, and Westchester.
0:54:37
I have mentioned the fact that there are currently underutilized surface parking areas directly adjacent to the purchaser van station sites Are these or any other locations actively being studied for potential public parking in my district?
0:54:51
If not, what alternatives does the administration propose for mitigating the significant issues of traffic congestion and parking loss that the FEIS currently calls out?
0:55:04
Anyone can take a step at that.
Paul Philps
0:55:07
I will start and then I will have my colleagues from DOT expand So thank you for the question.
0:55:13
Certainly, I think we've heard consistently throughout the years into public review.
0:55:18
Parking is a huge concern.
0:55:20
I think, you know, 1 of the things, you know, that we're we're, again, we see the private developers as a a huge resource to provide additional parking.
0:55:29
And I think you'll put a testimony from them today.
0:55:32
And then I'll turn it over to DOT to talk more specifically about some of the other things they might do in terms of addressing these the surface lots that you mentioned and some of the other issues.
UNKNOWN
0:55:43
Yeah.
0:55:43
As for the Watson that you're mentioning, we're taking notes So we'll make sure we'll follow-up with you on those pieces.
0:55:49
But I also take your question and talk a lot about congestion, and we feel really really well for parent to to have our regular toolkit.
0:55:58
Take a look as as the project takes shape.
0:56:01
We'll be able to provide very specific take feedback on the mitigations that we would take.
0:56:05
But, again, there there's sort of known the types of things that we would be doing to help move level of service, but also provide optionality for bolts.
0:56:13
So, like, we're we're talking about with bike lanes and and bus lanes.
0:56:17
So those sorts of things are part of our regular toolkit.
Amanda Farías
0:56:22
Okay.
0:56:22
Thank you.
0:56:23
And would MTA like to consider using some of their capital to look at parking rides and private lots that I have in my district?
UNKNOWN
0:56:30
So we we've, you know, spoken on this before with regard to that, and the stations themselves do not include parking with inside the scope of the the project.
0:56:40
But we that does not preclude us from working with a 3rd party developer, having conversations about future development of parking, and happy to have a seat at that table.