Complications with design updates are threatening to even further delay the planned reopening of the No. 1 line Cortlandt Street subway station, according to New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's independent engineer on the project.
The station was destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Service resumed on the corridor about a year later, but the station has remained vacant.
Early last year, the MTA took over the project from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The MTA and its project contractor, Judlau Contracting, have yet to negotiate necessary changes to electrical and communications components.
MTA officials project the station to reopen in August 2018, at an estimated cost of $158.4 million.
The MTA is one of the largest municipal issuers with roughly $37 billion in debt.
According to independent engineering contractor Dianne Rinaldi, contractor productivity as measured by work completed and billing per month, has dropped significantly, to $840,000 per month over the past six months.
Rinaldi told members of the MTA board's capital program oversight committee on Monday that productivity averaging $3.2 million per month would be necessary to complete the project on time.
"If the current rate of productivity continues, project completion will be delayed significantly," she said.
The news triggered an angry response from board member Mitchell Pally.
"This is not a pretty sight," said Pally. "We're being delayed and delayed and delayed. Every time we're delayed, it costs us more money and more time. I don't see a solution coming soon."
Anthony D'Amico, the MTA's executive vice president of capital construction, said the parties have agreed on the scope of the necessary work.
"I'm a little more optimistic," he said.
