Cuomo wants a Metro-North station at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

https://www.lohud.com/story/news/transit/2018/02/23/cuomo-metro-north-woodbury-outlets/367871002/

Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants you to be able to take the train to Woodbury Common.

An entrance to Woodbury Commons in Harriman on Thursday, December 7, 2017.

JOHN MEORE/THE JOURNAL NEWS

At a speech at Marist College Thursday, the governor touted initiatives in his 2019 budget for the mid-Hudson Valley. One of those was an addendum on his already-announced traffic upgrades around the 250-plus store shopping complex in Central Valley: A Metro-North station.

"Whenever my daughters ask me to take them there, I come up with any excuse not to have to sit through that traffic," Cuomo said. "We are putting a Metro-North station at Woodbury Common. That way, you don't have to drive, you can take the train."

Port Jervis Line tracks are already nearby, running between the complex and the Thruway. A Metro-North station there would sit between the Harriman and Salisbury Mills-Cornwall stations.

The railroad said it was "pursing a review of the potential" for a public-private partnership to make the station happen.

Cuomo said 13 million people a year make the trip to Woodbury Common. Without a rail option, all the traffic snarls Orange County roads.

In December, he announced $150 million in traffic upgrades, including redesigning roads and traffic patterns plus cashless tolling at the nearby Harriman toll plaza, to keep everything moving more smoothly.

A train station would add another option for shoppers. The Port Jervis line terminates at Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey and stops at Secaucus Junction, allowing access from the city via PATH trains or NJ Transit.

Port Jervis trains make stops in Suffern and Sloatsburg.

[B35 via Church]

Ever walked from MNRR Harriman to Woodbury Commons? I did, a long time ago, and it sucked.... I GROSSLY underestimated how far it was from the RR station.... Anyway, I opted to do that b/c I just missed that shuttle & I didn't know how frequently they ran (interesting how they now have sleek black mini vans as shuttles, because before, they had shuttles that resembled old streetcars).... I'll spare you the long, boring story of how it played out, but, yes, I concur with a Woodbury Commons station.... MNRR Harriman is in the middle of nothing.... I detest RR stations like that.....

I seriously doubt the owners of Woodbury Common would open its property up to park & riding commuters (like, Willowbrook Mall does, for example) though....

 

[bobtehpanda]

The real traffic problem at Woodbury Commons is the stupidity of having one exit out of all the parking lots. What genius approved that plan?

[GojiMet86]

7 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

I seriously doubt the owners of Woodbury Common would open its property up to park & riding commuters (like, Willowbrook Mall does, for example) though....

 

https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2017/01/cuomos-newest-big-donors-108932

 

Quote

 

Cuomo attracts a new batch of big donors

By BILL MAHONEY     01/23/2017 05:41 AM EST

 

ALBANY — Most of the donors who helped Gov. Andrew Cuomo raise $4.4 millionover the past six months were familiar ones.

Contributors like Brookfield Financial ($100,000 this filing period), Howard Milstein (who, with his family, gave $50,000) and Genting ($50,000) have all regularly appeared in the governor’s campaign finance reports in the past.

But there were 20 donors who hadn’t previously given to Cuomo since he took office as governor in 2011 and gave $25,000 or more from mid-July through mid-January. Here’s a look at some of his newest contributors.

................

DAVID SIMON ($25,000)

Simon is the CEO of Indianapolis real estate investment trust Simon Property Group, whose holdings include the Woodbury Commons outlet mall.

 

 

...Yeah, something tells me he's not going to have any problems with it.

 

[N6 Limited]

But the trains go through NJ. Most would be coming from Westchester and Brooklyn/Queens/LI and maybe Fairfield County

[checkmatechamp13]

1 hour ago, N6 Limited said:

But the trains go through NJ. Most would be coming from Westchester and Brooklyn/Queens/LI and maybe Fairfield County

With the frequency of trains that go up there (it's around once every 2 hours off-peak), that limits the station's usefulness even for NYC/NJ residents. But still, I do agree it would be useful (also for whatever employees work at the stores, it's another way for them to get to work). I wonder if they will have the buses stop at the train station, since it seems a decent amount of Orange County buses (both local and commuter) serve the mall: http://www.transitorange.info/routes/index.html

[BrooklynIRT]

On 2/24/2018 at 4:14 PM, B35 via Church said:

MNRR Harriman is in the middle of nothing.... I detest RR stations like that.....

Several Amtrak stations along the east coast south of Alexandria, VA. 

[Truckie]

On ‎2‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 4:14 PM, B35 via Church said:

Ever walked from MNRR Harriman to Woodbury Commons? I did, a long time ago, and it sucked.... I GROSSLY underestimated how far it was from the RR station.... Anyway, I opted to do that b/c I just missed that shuttle & I didn't know how frequently they ran (interesting how they now have sleek black mini vans as shuttles, because before, they had shuttles that resembled old streetcars).... I'll spare you the long, boring story of how it played out, but, yes, I concur with a Woodbury Commons station.... MNRR Harriman is in the middle of nothing.... I detest RR stations like that.....

I seriously doubt the owners of Woodbury Common would open its property up to park & riding commuters (like, Willowbrook Mall does, for example) though....

 

Harriman being in the middle of nothing also has its advantages.  A station in the direct vicinity of Woodbury Commons will create additional traffic in an already clogged intertwining of arteries meet there (RT 17, RT 32, RT 6 and nearby NYS Thruway).  In retrospect the isolated Harriman Station being somewhat removed from the major arteries, makes it more bearable for purposes of access and egress.

[Union Tpke]

https://www.recordonline.com/news/20181216/skoufis-urges-train-station-for-woodbury-common

Assemblyman and senator-elect James Skoufis is urging the Woodbury Planning Board to require the construction of a Metro-North train station at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets as a condition of the latest proposed expansion of the shopping center.

Metro-North spokesman Aaron Donovan was more definitive, saying in a statement that the railroad is “in ongoing conversations with Simon Property Group about the funding to make a new Metro-North station at the Woodbury Common Outlets a reality.”

“Metro-North is committed to helping commuters, residents and visitors get around our region as quickly and efficiently as possible, and we welcome opportunities to serve new markets, stimulate economic development and support transit-oriented growth,” Donovan wrote.

[bobtehpanda]

On 2/24/2018 at 11:05 PM, checkmatechamp13 said:

With the frequency of trains that go up there (it's around once every 2 hours off-peak), that limits the station's usefulness even for NYC/NJ residents. But still, I do agree it would be useful (also for whatever employees work at the stores, it's another way for them to get to work). I wonder if they will have the buses stop at the train station, since it seems a decent amount of Orange County buses (both local and commuter) serve the mall: http://www.transitorange.info/routes/index.html

IIRC there are shuttles running in from Port Authority, right? That can't be cheap.

 

5 hours ago, Union Tpke said:

https://www.recordonline.com/news/20181216/skoufis-urges-train-station-for-woodbury-common

Assemblyman and senator-elect James Skoufis is urging the Woodbury Planning Board to require the construction of a Metro-North train station at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets as a condition of the latest proposed expansion of the shopping center.

Metro-North spokesman Aaron Donovan was more definitive, saying in a statement that the railroad is “in ongoing conversations with Simon Property Group about the funding to make a new Metro-North station at the Woodbury Common Outlets a reality.”

“Metro-North is committed to helping commuters, residents and visitors get around our region as quickly and efficiently as possible, and we welcome opportunities to serve new markets, stimulate economic development and support transit-oriented growth,” Donovan wrote.

We need to have smarter rail+property investments; a prime candidate for that would be where the 7 is above the E/M at Court Square.