New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on Dec. 7 the substantial completion of two significant contracts on East Side Access, the megaproject intended to bring Long Island Rail Road service to Grand Central Terminal.
Workers have completed construction of a subterranean ventilation facility below East 55th Street in Manhattan, and $56.2 million in infrastructure improvements to Harold Interlocking, in Sunnyside, Queens, the busiest passenger train junction in the United States, where the tracks for the connection to Grand Central will meet with the existing LIRR system.
"The completion of these two contracts underscores the magnitude of the behind-the-scenes work that must take place for East Side Access to function," said Michael Horodniceanu, president of MTA Capital Construction.
The MTA is one of the largest municipal issuers with roughly $36 billion in debt.
East Side Access is the largest transportation infrastructure construction project in the country. The MTA expects full completion in 2022. Authority officials say the project will double the LIRR's capacity to bring trains into Manhattan and ease the commute for tens of thousands of Long Islanders by giving them a destination on the east side of Manhattan.
