WPCNR IN TRANSIT. By John F. Bailey. March 11, 2010: The backbone of the new Rockland-Westchester County mass transit system of the future -- the Bus Rapid Transit line -- is envisioned by officials as traveling east-west on Hamilton Avenue in downtown White Plains, the Council of Neighborhood Associations learned Tuesday night. For many it was the first they had heard of the plan to go through White Plains.

The route the DOT feels is the most efficient at this time is to dedicate two lanes for Bus Rapid Transit, on Hamilton Avenue, one eastbound, the other westbound, with dedicated buslines coursing from 119 East onto Hamilton and down North Broadway eastbound to Westchester Avenue, and a dedicated bus line westbound coming up North Broadway Westbound off Westchester Avenue, connecting with Hamilton Avenue out to Route 119. It was the first time the Hamlton solution had been presented to the general public.

2 Plans to access Hamilton. Via Main Street, or a Tunnel

"The Hamilton Solution"  has the eastbound Rapid Transit buses coming off the Cross Westchester Expressway at Exit 5, entering Route 119  and Westbound Rapid Transit buses entering the city via Westchester Avenue. The buses connect between Hamilton Avenue and Route 119 in one of two ways.

1. Tunnel: One way is via a tunnel under the Metro North Railroad, the Bronx River and the Bronx River Parkway, avoiding Main Street completely.

and

2. Eastbound and West bound buses swinging on or off Hamilton respectively on a bypass feeding them to Main Street and under the railtracks back to Route 119.

The Department of Transportation, Metro North officials, and traffic engineers who have been working on Westchester and Rockland County transit problems for three years in connection with the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement projection, unveiled their most detailed solution yet to how the East-West I-287 “Bus Rapid Transit Trunk Line” would access White Plains to the Council of Neighborhood Associations.

James Coyle of AECOM, the engineering firm working with the DOT, said the 2-Bus Hamilton Plan came out of a suggestion in the fall at a public meeting that a dedicated bus line  East on Main Street in White Plains would cause too much congestion, and that placing two lanes, one eastbound and one Westbound, on Hamilton Avenue might make more sense, the DOT engineers examined this and put forth two ways it might be executed.

Coyle said the two-lane concept would work better because it would not disrupt the already-congested Main Street. He said that the city traffic department had been very negative about dedicating a lane on Main Street to buses.

The transit team  presented the Hamilton Avenue alternative to the Council of Neighborhood Associations Tuesday evening where about half of the gathering thought the plan would create too much congestion, with one resident throwing up his hands and saying “this is ridiculous!”

The lively reception ended with two residents, Pat Casey, of the White Plains Times pointing out the double bus lane on Hamilton Avenue might be at odds with a downtown that has been envisioned by some, including the new administration as having more open spaces and walking plazas, and that the new administration in city hall was looking at those kind of urban “green amenities.”

This prompted another resident to say it was long overdue that the city overhaul its "comprehensive plan," and should start immediately to create a new plan,  decide what the city really wants and needs in its downtown. Various local traffic buffs dismissed the plan as not dealing with realities of traffic in White Plains, saying it would only add to the congestion. Others said why route the trunk line buses on the new Bus Rapid Transit system through downtown White Plains at all.

Naomi Klein, Principal Planner for the Westchester County Department of Transportation, said that the principle of mass transit was to move people into the center of destinations , eliminating the need for commuters to make multiple transfers, which increases congestion.

Asked by WPCNR if the state Bus Rapid Transit system as it grew would work with the county buslines to terminate routes, cutting down on the number of Bee Line routes into White Plains, Mr. Coyle of AECOM said that has not been considered yet, but said there would be efforts to consolidate routes.

Russell Robins, the leader of the Department of Transportation entourage, assured the Council of Neighborhood Associations that  “Nothing will be imposed on the city. This is going to be a participatory process. ” He said the public will have ample opportunities to weight in on the plan for Hamilton Avenue and that the alternative presented this evening will be fully explored in the Developmental Impact Statement being prepared over the next year.