Queens residents took the streets on Wednesday to protest the construction of an Interborough Express station in their neighborhood. 

“It’s a nice little area. Why mess it up? I don’t get it,” resident Silvana Martocci said. 

The MTA is planning to build the Interborough Express, or IBX, transit line to connect Queens and Brooklyn along an existing rail corridor.  

The agency held a pop-up information session on Grand Avenue, where a station is planned to be developed near 74th Street, adjacent to Elmhurst Park, drawing crowds of opposition. 

Klea Theoharis, of Maspeth, said her home is right next to freight train tracks. 

“The train tracks for the CSX are about 80 feet from the back wall of my home,” Theoharis said. “The IBX plans to lay two additional sets of tracks on the west side of the CSX tracks… bringing the train line that much closer to these homes on this block.” 

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this month that the MTA has made progress on the design and environmental review phase of the IBX, which they promise will shorten travel times for more than 900,000 residents. 

The MTA has said the completed project will have 18 stations from Jackson Heights, Queens to Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and cost more than $5 million to build. 

But some residents argue Grand Avenue in Maspeth is already clogged with buses at rush hour.  

“We really don’t need it. We have plenty of buses, we have plenty of transportation. They’re making it very hard for people to drive,” Martocci said. 

Residents also worry about what could happen to the homes and trees in the area to make room for the IBX. 

“All these homes that are gonna be torn down, the trees, hundreds of trees, and thousands along the route of this train. It’s really sad, and just congestion, noise, you know there’s just so much at stake in the community with this train,” Theoharis said. 

Martocci added the freight trains already cause noise pollution and disrupt the “quiet area.” 

“We do have freight trains right now, and when they do come through, everything kind of shakes and gets out of whack. The property is already shifting. The infrastructure is not equipped for this. Our electricity bills are gonna go sky high,” Martocci said. 

No date has been set for completion of the IBX. 

Officials said the project is still in the design and environmental review phase, which could be finished by the end of next year.