A $10 billion plan to take JFK airport from state-of-the-1970s to state-of-the-art is in the works, including the possibility of a one-seat train ride direct to midtown Manhattan.
The plan, announced by NY Gov. Cuomo, mixes about $3 billion in state and Port Authority funds and $7 billion in private investment. No timetable has been set yet for completion of the whole project, whose details still need to be put in place.
JFK now serves about 60 million passengers a year; by 2050 that’s expected to grow to 100 million or more.
The key features include
- re-designing the spaghetti bowl of airport roads to put all the terminals on a single ring road
- expanding parking facilities inside the ring
- providing weather-free connections between the various terminals
- expanding taxiways to reduce delays
- increasing service on the airport’s AirTrain that connects terminals to parking lots and transit stations
- improving traffic patterns on road leading to the airport.
- adding more amenities including hotel space and more dining.
The proposal for a one-seat ride to Manhattan is not new. One possibility would be to incorporate a long out-of-service Long Island Rail Road line that passes by the airport and connects to the mainline at Jamaica Station, now the terminal of the AirTrain. From there, the LIRR continues into Penn Station in Manhattan, and within the next few years will serve Grand Central also.
