Port Authority to offer 14 options for transit to LaGuardia; unpopular one remains on the table

There still is not a direct transit line to LaGuardia Airport in New York.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is sticking with an unpopular option for light rail to and from LaGuardia Airport.

However, it has added 13 other alternatives to consider.

After getting negative feedback about a proposed AirTrain plan and putting the project on pause, the Port Authority went back to the drawing board and came up with other choices including subway extensions, light-rail routes, five bus routes, one ferry option, and using other emerging technologies.

The subway options included extending the N/W line from the 30^th Avenue station to La Guardia along elevated tracks on the Grand Central Parkway, or extending the N/W line from Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard to the airport on elevated tracks along local streets.

Among the five light-rail options, the Port Authority is looking at a route that would connect the 7 train and Long Island Railroad to the AirTrain at Willets Point. That plan was the one rejected by commuters and officials. A second alternative is one that would connect to the 7 train and Long Island Railroad at the 61^st Street-Woodside station. The train would then move on elevated tracks to 55^th Street and along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway en route to the airport.

Three more light-rail options are as follows: building a north-south line along the Grand Central Parkway from the Jamaica E/J/Z station to LaGuardia; a route that would go from the Astoria Boulevard N/W station and over the Grand Central Parkway to the airport; and taking riders from Jackson Heights to LaGuardia on elevated tracks.

The Port Authority will ask the public to weigh in on the 14 options and will host two public workshops.

Read more articles on passenger rail.