A capital project to provide
Michael Horodniceanu, president of MTA Capital Construction, estimated the latest cost at $10.2 billion in a media briefing on Wednesday. The federal government, he said, would reimburse about $2.7 billion.
Target completion date is December 2022, he said, for a project marked by delays and cost overruns. "Overall I believe that we have made a lot of progress in the last three years," Horodniceanu told reporters.
Rerouting some LIRR trains coming from the east to Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan's East Side instead of Pennsylvania Station on the West Side should provide a one-seat ride for 162,000 passengers daily and save East Side-bound commuters 30 to 40 minutes per day.
"The only way you'll remain competitive on a world map, to be like London, Shanghai, like Paris, you need to have public transport," said Horodniceanu.
"This piece of public transport is extremely important because it brings additional flexibility to be able to bring people from Long Island to the East Side of Manhattan and vice versa."
East Side access is one of several MTA infrastructure megaprojects. Others include the Second Avenue subway extension and the recently opened extension of the No. 7 subway line west of Times Square.
The MTA last week forwarded its $29 billion, five-year
According to Horodniceanu, the project will relieve congestion at Penn Station, augment job growth around Grand Central, increase East River tunnel capacity by more than 50% and enhance access to John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The project encompasses a concourse and eight-track terminal beneath Grand Central, new train yards and maintenance facilities in the Bronx and Queens, new and modernized vent facilities in Queens and Manhattan, and a rebuilt Harold Interlocking junction of 14 tracks in Queens.
Regional investments toward rebuilding 100-year-old Harold -- the busiest passenger rail interlocking in North America - total $758 million, according to Horodniceanu. LIRR, Amtrak, NJ Transit and New York & Atlantic Railway all use Harold, which derives its name from nearby Harold Avenue, since renamed 39th Avenue.
The upgrades, he added, will modernize Harold's infrastructure and fix what he called "pre-existing conditions."
Complexities regarding the Harold fix forced delays in the project.
Horodniceanu said 72.3% of construction funds are already committed, with the authority expected to award three more contracts in the next few months, valued at roughly $825 million.
