A few weeks ago, I explored an on-again, off-again movement in Queens to convert parts of the unused Rockaway Beach Branch line into a park. At the time, I was skeptical of the move because once these rail rights-of-way are converted to trails, they are never restored to their transportation functionality. Doing the same in Queens would forever deprive the area of a potential rail access point.

Now, we hear that activists in Queens are pushing forward with the newly-named QueensWay project. As The Daily News reports, those who are angling for a park have convinced the Trust for Public Land to seek out private funding for a feasibility study. Once conducted, this study will present the potential costs of the problem and the security, safety and engineering work that would have to be done along the 3.5-mile railroad ROW in advance of opening a park. “I think people see this as opportunity to take abandoned land and do something great with it,” Andrea Crawford, head of Queens’ CB9 and a member of the Friends of QueenWay committee, said. “It preserves green space and it opens up green space.”

I’m still skeptical of this effort. As I’ve said, the High Line works because it’s in a pedestrian-heavy neighborhood that already was a major tourist attraction. The QueensWay plans do not enjoy similar positioning in the city, and I would be far more intrigued by a feasibility study that assesses the challenges facing anyone who wishes to reactivate the rail line instead. For now, though, the project has the public’s attention, and I’ll keep an eye on it. You can too by following TheQueensWay on Twitter.

For the first time since 2003, a non-Manhattan subway stop has cracked the MTA’s list of ten busiest. The folks in Flushing are patting themselves on the back as their station is the tenth busiest in the system. In fact, with this on-again, off-again popularity comes politicians who want more more more. In a profile of the 7 line’s eastern terminus and the area around it, Crain’s New York spoke with some politicians who want to “capitalize on their station’s exalted status.”

Both City Council reps and Community Board members want to see the MTA invest in the station. They are requesting a larger mezzanine space, bathrooms and a new look for the Flushing-Main Street LIRR station which is just a block away. “We have the potential to become the Penn Station of Queens,” Peter Koo, the City Council representative from the district, said.

It’s all well and good to want better transit, but as Stephen Smith noted on Twitter, that commitment should come with some urban policy changes. As Smith said, “If Flushing wants ‘the Penn Station of Queens,’ it should be forced to accept some upzoning.” Right now, development around the Flushing terminal isn’t primed for transit-oriented development. Buildings are stunted, and the area has too much parking. It’s a gateway to eastern Queens, but it should also become a beacon of TOD at the end of the 7. Only then could it become the “Penn Station of Queens.”

“So near and yet so far” could very well be the motto of LaGuardia Airport. Nestled north of Astoria, the airport isn’t very subway-accessible, and in fact, NIMBY opposition to a subway expansion shot down plans to extend the N to the airport. Now, as a I reported a few weeks ago, various stakeholders are working on an access plan for the aiport that will ostensibly focus around a potential bus rapid transit corridor. Now that the first meeting is in the books, however, it seems as though the MTA, DOT and Port Authority will engage in a full alternatives analysis.

The slides from the late June meeting have hit the web, and the agenda is clear: With 88 percent of LaGuardia customers taking taxis or private cars, the various stakeholders are going to try to develop better access into commercial hubs in Astoria, Harlem, Midtown, Jackson Heights, Flushing and the Bronx. The alternatives under consideration will include not only bus rapid transit, the long-shot subway and the painfully slow ferries, but also some more intriguing options: streetcars, light rail and an AirTrain-type automated guideway system. An airtrain over the Grand Central right-of-way would better connect the subway to LaGuardia.

Over the next few months, the three agencies will hold a series of outreach meetings as they plot out alternatives and potential alignments. The report calling for the locally preferred alternative is due next May with implementation to begin in 2013. Within five years, perhaps LaGuardia will be far more accessible than it is today with only some local Queens buses and the lonely M60 provided public transit service.

For the past few months, commuters and politicians along the IRT Flushing line have grown even more impatient with the MTA than they usually are. At various points this winter and spring, the 7 line has faced numerous unplanned delays due to its aging signal infrastructure and flood-prone tunnels. To speed up repairs, the MTA will institute a series of weekend outages, Transit announced today.

This weekend and again for a weekend in June and one in July, there will be no 7 service between Queensboro Plaza and Times Square so that crews can work in the Steinway Tunnels. The work, says Transit, includes signal circuit repair, removal of silt and muck from the roadbed, power system improvements in the area and grouting of tunnel walls to address water intrusion. This work will provide some short-term relief as the longer-term installation of a new signaling system is ongoing.

“The recent deterioration in service illustrates clearly why this work is so vital and why we must perform it at this time, and I have to be frank, performing this vital work will require major planned service disruptions for some time to come,” NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast said. “We are committed to improving service along the Flushing Line and we will keep everyone informed of service changes and how the work is progressing.” As of now, there is still no word on the Court Square entrance, another long-term problem plaguing part of the 7 line.