Citing the lack of funding for the controversial third track project, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) pulled the plug on a plan to lay a third track on the main line between the Floral Park and Hicksville train stations. The MTA will concentrate on a $3.1 billion project to send LIRR trains into Grand Central Station in Manhattan, otherwise known as the East Side Access project.

"Given current funding constraints, the LIRR must be realistic about setting our priorities for the near term. We must make sure the LIRR is ready for 2015 when train service is scheduled to begin to a new LIRR stop at Grand Central Terminal. An estimated $3.1 billion is needed in the MTA's next capital program (2010-2014) to complete the project - known as East Side Access - that will allow LIRR trains to reach Grand Central," said LIRR President Helena Williams. "We also need funding for our state of good repair program and, most importantly, track reconfiguration and signal improvements in Jamaica, so that we can meet service demands for East Side Access. We have to be practical and put our resources where our priorities are and East Side Access is the number one priority for the LIRR."

Local mayors who were concerned of the impact a third track would have on their communities call the announcement a victory, although they remain cautious about whether the LIRR will reintroduce the plan in the future.

Mineola Mayor Jack M. Martins, who serves as the chairman of the third track committee, believes that the announcement that the third track project has been put on the back burner is a victory of the communities that would have been impacted, including Mineola, New Hyde Park, Garden City, Floral Park, Westbury and Hicksville.

Floral Park Mayor Phil Guarnieri called the announcement a birthday present for the Village of Floral Park, which is celebrating its centennial anniversary.

Guarnieri echoed the sentiments of many who believed that the LIRR did not provide justification for a project of the magnitude of a third track. "We really did our homework here," he said. "Our interests and principles coincided with all of those villages along that main line corridor. We came together as one and we were really the lungs for expressing the opposition to this project that was not only unwanted, but was unneeded."

In a statement, Williams said the LIRR is committed to the third track project, which means it may be introduced again once funding for the East Side Access is secured.

The mayors of the villages that would be affected by a third track project believe they have to remain vigilant in keeping an eye on the project. Mayor Martins believes the LIRR should withdraw its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the third track from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to ensure that the project is definitively off the table.

"I urge the LIRR and the MTA to withdraw the application for the third track project pending before the Federal Transit Administration and to also pull back the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which has been submitted. The property owners along the Main Line deserve the security of knowing that their property values and quality of life will not be diminished by a continuing cloud of uncertainty about whether or not the third track project will suddenly be reactivated," Martins said.

New Hyde Park Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro said, "Our objective is to abandon the entire project completely. We always suspected funding was a problem and we are not surprised by this announcement."

Joining local mayors in opposing the third track project were state elected officials such as Assemblymen Tom McKevitt and Tom Alfano and Senator Craig Johnson.

"We knew from many of our hearings that the MTA couldn't possibly afford to build this track. Quite frankly, the MTA needs to get its act together and start being up front with the people instead of putting communities through this kind of emotional roller coaster," said Alfano.

Johnson said funding for the project has spiraled out of control, growing from $1 billion to an estimated $1.5 billion. "This is frankly the first smart decision that the MTA/LIRR has made regarding third track and the first real evidence that they are listening to the concerns of Main Line residents and their representatives," he said. "However, this is only a partial victory. We all must continue to work together to make sure that this wrongheaded and increasingly costly project is defeated once and for all."

McKevitt organized a town hall meeting Thursday, July 17 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Mineola Village Hall community center, located at 155 Washington Avenue, to address issues regarding the third track. Mayor Martins said the meeting would be held as scheduled despite the announcement.

In the meantime, local mayors will attempt to work with the LIRR in getting other projects completed for their villages. For instance, in the Village of Westbury, the repair or replacement of the Ellison Avenue bridge was part of the third track proposal. Although the third track may be temporarily off the table, the bridge still needs to be addressed, said Westbury Mayor Ernest Strada. "I'm going to have to move very aggressively to be sure that they don't take that out of their plan for repair or replacement. We are not going to be able to tolerate the condition of [the bridge] much longer," Strada said.