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Appendix E: Response to Comments

APPENDIX E: RESPONSE TO COMMENTS

LIRR initially released the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Mid-Suffolk Yard/Ronkonkoma

Yard Expansion Project for public comment by posting it on the MTA LIRR website on July 29, 2015.

Letters announcing the EA’s availability on the website were sent to interested and involved agencies

identified in the SEQRA process, as well as residents living near the proposed yard site. Advertisements

were also placed in newspapers serving the Ronkonkoma area informing readers that the Draft EA was

available for review. Letters and advertisements noted that the comment period for the Project would

continue through September 4, 2015 (a period of 38 days).

This Appendix identifies and responds to the comments received during the comment period discussed

above. It includes a matrix showing the comments received and a response to each comment. After the

matrix, copies of each of the comments are included. Preliminary draft service schedules for

Ronkonkoma Branch stations are also included at the end of the Appendix in response to one of the

comments.

Comment received:

1 Steven Bellone Suffolk County Executive

2 Lorraine Weiss New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation

3 Joseph Jimmy Resident

4 Patrick O’Hara Resident

5 Frank Gscheidle Resident

Comment From Comment

Number

Comment Response

Steven Bellone

County of Suffolk

Office of the County

Executive

1 Having considered the EA in detail, the County supports the Mid‐

Suffolk Yard/Ronkonkoma Yard Expansion Project and the local

and regional benefits it would bring.

Comment noted.

Lorraine Weiss

NYS Office of Parks,

Recreation & Historic

Preservation

2 This is to let you know about a change in procedure. The NYS

Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Properties is now using an

all‐online system. Please submit all requests for comments via

the online format.

Notice of Draft EA availability was submitted electronically and

the Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Properties confirmed

that their review is complete.

Joseph Jimmy 3 Break out the "Westbound AM Peak Period Train Schedule" for

the Ronkonkoma Branch and its stations into simple and easily

understood tables, as was done for the Port Washington Branch.

See tables included at the end of Appendix E.

Patrick O'Hara 4 When the LIRR was evaluating the potential benefits of the Mid‐

Suffolk Electric Yard project, did the Railroad assume that the

Third Main Line Track project would be completed? If the Third

Main Line Track is not constructed, how much benefit would

building a larger yard in Ronkonkoma bring for rush hour

service, if the stretch of the Main Line from Hicksville to Queens

Village is the limiting factor? Would the LIRR reduce service

elsewhere (i.e. reduce Port Jefferson Branch and reverse‐peak

Main Line service) in order to run more peak‐direction trains

from the new yard?

No, as part of the Mid‐Suffolk Yard environmental review, LIRR

did not assume completion of the Main Line Third Track. The

benefit of the expanded yard without the Main Line Third Track

project is that additional AM and PM Peak trains can be stored

in the expanded yard, thus allowing for additional AM and PM

Peak service. The Main Line Third Track between Hicksville and

Queens Village is not, by itself, a limiting factor to running more

peak direction trains. The Main Line Third Track would provide

greater network service flexibility and ability to recover from

incidents more quickly, as well as increased reverse peak service

opportunities.

Frank Gscheidle 5 The map that you have published on your website is mis‐

oriented. The map as published gives the impression that the

expansion will be south of the tracks rather than north. Please

revise the map.

The MSY expansion area is correctly depicted on the map as

being to the south of the Main Line tracks.

LIRR Mid‐Suffolk Yard/Ronkonkoma Yard Expansion ‐ Environmental Assessment

Response to Comments

COUNTY OF SUFFOLK

OFFICE OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Steven Bellone COUNTY EXECUTIVE

LOCATION: MAILING ADDRESS:

H. LEE DENNISON BUILDING, 12th FLOOR P.O. BOX 6100 OFFICE (631) 853-4000

100 VETERANS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY HAUPPAUGE, NY 11788-0099 FAX (631) 853-4818

September 4, 2015

Hector Garcia

Mid-Suffolk Yard Project

MTA Long Island Rail Road, MC 1131

Jamaica Station Building

Jamaica, NY 11435

Dear Mr. Garcia,

Thank you for notifying Suffolk County (the County) that the Mid-Suffolk Yard (MSY)/Ronkonkoma Yard Expansion

Environmental Assessment (EA) is available for public review and comment. After reviewing the EA, the County notes

that the Yard would be expanded to the south of the existing Ronkonkoma Yard, away from residential properties. The

document demonstrates that the Project would not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts to community

character, noise or vibration, traffic, or other environmental categories.

The EA states that the MSY project is proposed by LIRR to support the full implementation of LIRR’s future East Side

Access service to a new terminal facility on Manhattan’s East Side, under the present Grand Central Terminal. Additional

train storage at the MSY would serve an expanded electric fleet and facilitate the provision of frequent AM and PM peak

service along the Ronkonkoma Branch to both Manhattan terminals. Having considered the EA in detail, the County

supports the Mid-Suffolk Yard/Ronkonkoma Yard Expansion Project and the local and regional benefits it would bring.

Sincerely,

Steven Bellone

Suffolk County Executive

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From: Weiss, Lorraine (PARKS) [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2015 12:37 PM To: Garcia, Hector Subject: New Online Process SHPO Project Consultation Dear Mr. Garcia: I received a notice for the MTA Draft EA for the Ronkonkoma Yard Expansion Project. I believe that we have already signed off on the project, but I wanted to let you know about a change in procedure. We are now using an all-online system, CRIS, to process project reviews. I’ve attached a handout or you can simply go to our website -- www.nysparks.com/shpo/online-tools/. You will find a link to the system and a link to a tutorial. I would appreciate it if you could share this information with others in your office. While you can submit projects as a guest, registering will save time in the future if you are going to be working with the system on a long term basis. Several tips:

Please include contact information for anyone who should receive our communication about findings, and that includes staff at any permitting or funding agency. For SEQRA submissions, is important to include a contact for the municipality.

Our GIS-based system can only accept one location. For a project with several locations, select one for the map and include the others in the project title or description.

Please always provide a description of the project. When uploading materials, be sure to wait until Step 5 to submit your project documents such as a scope of work and maps.

Under the Built Resources section, place the photos for any buildings. Do not place any scopes of work or maps in this section, but wait until Step 5. When uploading photos and materials for buildings, include any outbuildings or related structures under the same resource. Do not create a separate built resource entry for garages, sheds, walls. etc.

Let me know if you have any questions. If you need assistance using CRIS, contact Matthew Shepherd at our help desk at [email protected]. Regards, Lorraine Weiss Lorraine E. Weiss Historic Preservation Planner

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New York State Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation P. O. Box 189, Peebles Island, Waterford, NY 12188 [email protected] 518-268-2129 www.nysparks.com/shpo

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Again, as this information is currently being provided, albeit in a form not easily discernible by the average customer (see page 43 of the Appendix: http://web.mta.info/lirr/midsuffolkyard/images/Ronkonkoma_Yard_Expansion_0715Appendices.pdf Trains numbered 20XX going to Penn Station and Trains numbered 19XX

going to Grand Central Terminal), it should be well within the capability of the drafters who are completing the Final Environmental Assessment or the LIRR staff who maintain the Mid-Suffolk Yard Project web page to break out this information accordingly and create simple tables that can be clearly understood by the current and future customers of the Ronkonkoma Branch, who are just as deserving of this information in a digestible format as the Great Neck station customers of the Port Washington Branch. The Ronkonkoma Branch customers currently endure maximum 12 car length trains containing on average the highest number of passengers per train of all LIRR Branches (see the LIRR 2012 Ridership Book pages 10 and 12: http://transitdocs.com/files/data/lirr/2012RidershipBook.pdf) and with the politically insurmountable bottleneck and lack of additional capacity west of Hicksville through Queens Interlocking this situation will not change even with the increase in yard capacity afforded by the Mid-Suffolk Yard Project or the completed Main Line Double Track Project which combined will only allow for a singular additional Peak Direction train (see LIRR President Nowakowski's comments during the MTA Board - Metro-North/LIRR Committee Meeting - 4/27/2015 at 1:20:15 https://youtu.be/h51X2ZI556w?t=1h20m15s). I humbly ask that you please afford the same courtesy to the customers of the Ronkonkoma Branch and please do provide these simple tables in either the Final Environmental Assessment or on the Mid-Suffolk Yard Project web page, as we are no less deserving of this information. Thank you so much for your consideration. Regards, Joseph

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From: Patrick O'Hara [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2015 1:06 PM To: Garcia, Hector Subject: LIRR Mid-Suffolk Electric Yard Question Mr. Garcia, I had a question about the LIRR’s Mid-Suffolk Electric Yard project, and saw that you were listed as the contact for the project on the railroad’s website. I was wondering, when the LIRR was evaluating the potential benefits of the Mid-Suffolk Electric Yard project, did the railroad assume that the Third Main Line Track project would be completed? If the Third Main Line Track is not constructed, how much benefit would building a larger yard in Ronkonkoma bring for rush hour service, if the stretch of the Main Line from Hicksville to Queens Village is the limiting factor? Would the LIRR reduce service elsewhere (i.e. reduce Port Jefferson Branch and reverse-peak Main Line service) in order to run more peak-direction trains from the new yard? Thanks in advance for any information you could lend, Patrick O’Hara

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From: DOLLHOUSE JUNCTION/WRONG ISLAND RR [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 11:03 AM To: Garcia, Hector Subject: Mid Suffolk Yard Expansion Map Dear Sir, The map that you have published on you website is completely mis‐oriented. The lower part of the map should be south of the railroad tracks and the right side of the map should be the west side of the map. The map as published gives the impression that the expansion will be south of the tracks rather than north. It is very confusing since every map that I have seen, north is always on the top. Please revise your map so that the general public can have a better understanding of the project. Thank you, Frank Gscheidle

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Ronkonkoma Branch Draft Schedules

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# Trains

Existing AM Peak

Service

(Departure Time)

Destination

SAMPLE AM Peak

ESA Service Plan

(Departure Time)

Destination # Trains

1 4:58 AM Penn Station 4:41 AM Grand Central Terminal 1

2 5:29 AM Penn Station 5:15 AM Penn Station 2





7 6:56 AM Atlantic Terminal 7:08 AM Grand Central Terminal 7




11 7:40 AM Atlantic Terminal 8:09 AM Penn Station 11



8:42 AM Grand Central Terminal 14

9:13 AM Penn Station 15


Destination # of Trains Destination # of Trains

Grand Central Terminal 2

Penn Station 2

Penn Station 3 Grand Central Terminal 2

Atlantic Terminal 1 Penn Station 2




Penn Station 1

Total: 13 Total: 16 23%

7 AM ‐ 8 AM 0%

8 AM ‐ 9 AM Penn Station 1 200%


6 AM ‐ 7 AM 33%

4 AM ‐ 5 AM Penn Station 1 Grand Central Terminal 1 0%

Mid‐Suffolk Yard Environmental Assessment

SAMPLE Opening Day Schedule Comparison for Environmental Analysis

Ronkonkoma Station AM Peak Westbound Service

Westbound AM Peak Period

Departure

Existing Level of Service SAMPLE ESA Level of Service % Increase

Trains to

Manhattan

East Side Access is presently scheduled to open in December 2022. Train information and schedule time shown above are subject to

change.

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# Trains

Existing AM Peak

Service

(Departure Time)

Destination

SAMPLE AM Peak

ESA Service Plan

(Departure Time)




















Penn Station 2


Penn Station 2




Penn Station 1


7 AM ‐ 8 AM 150%







Central Islip Station AM Peak Westbound Service

East Side Access is presently scheduled to open in December 2022. Train information and schedule time shown above are subject

to change.


Departure


Trains to

Manhattan

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# Trains

Existing AM Peak

Service

(Departure Time)

Destination

SAMPLE AM Peak

ESA Service Plan

(Departure Time)

























Penn Station 3


Penn Station 4




Penn Station 1




Brentwood Station AM Peak Westbound Service


change.


DepartureExisting Level of Service SAMPLE ESA Level of Service % Increase

Trains to

Manhattan



7 AM ‐ 8 AM 200%


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# Trains

Existing AM Peak

Service

(Departure Time)

Destination

SAMPLE AM Peak

ESA Service Plan

(Departure Time)





















Penn Station 1


Penn Station 2




Penn Station 2


7 AM ‐ 8 AM 100%


0 Grand Central Terminal 1 100%

5 AM ‐ 6 AM Penn Station 3 ‐33%


4 AM ‐ 5 AM Penn Station



Deer Park Station AM Peak Westbound Service


change.



Trains to

Manhattan

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# Trains

Existing AM Peak

Service

(Departure Time)

Destination

SAMPLE AM Peak

ESA Service Plan

(Departure Time)




















Penn Station 1


Penn Station 2






Penn Station 0


8 AM ‐ 9 AM 50%



7 AM ‐ 8 AM 25%




Wyandanch Station AM Peak Westbound Service


change.


Departure


Trains to

Manhattan

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# Trains

Existing AM Peak

Service

(Departure Time)

Destination

SAMPLE AM Peak

ESA Service Plan

(Departure Time)























Penn Station 1


Penn Station 2






Penn Station 0



1 200%


7 AM ‐ 8 AM 67%

8 AM ‐ 9 AM 150%

5 AM ‐ 6 AM Penn Station



Farmingdale Station AM Peak Westbound Service


change.



Trains to

Manhattan

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# Trains

Existing AM Peak

Service

(Departure Time)

Destination

SAMPLE AM Peak

ESA Service Plan

(Departure Time)



















Penn Station 1


Penn Station 2






Penn Station 0


7 AM ‐ 8 AM 0%

8 AM ‐ 9 AM 300%






Bethpage Station AM Peak Westbound Service


change.


Departure


Trains to

Manhattan

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