New York Construction Report staff writer
Governor Hochul this week announced the next steps to plan and engineer expanded transit access across New York City, including a new statewide Infrastructure Hub that will provide detailed information about projects supported by both state and federal funding and tools to search for technical assistance programs and federal grant opportunities.
“Every New Yorker deserves a safe, efficient commute – whether you’re a straphanger, a driver or a pedestrian,” Hochul said. “We’re continuing to move full speed ahead on transformative infrastructure projects that will change the way New Yorkers get around.”
Second Avenue Subway West Extension
- Phase Two of the Second Avenue Subway has gone from a dream to a fully funded project that is ready for construction.
- The MTA will evaluate, scope and plan for another extension of the Second Avenue Subway west along 125th Street, adding three new stops at Lenox Avenue, St. Nicholas Avenue, and Broadway in Harlem.
- An extension would create connections with seven existing lines and serve 240,000 daily customers.
In advance of environmental review and preliminary engineering, MTA will evaluate the feasibility of performing the initial tunneling work as a continuation of the Phase Two tunneling work and extending the tunnel boring machine’s westward path beyond Park Avenue to Broadway. If viable, this approach could save over $400 million over the life of the project.
Engineering the Interborough Express
- Interborough Express is a new service in Brooklyn and Queens that would use the existing right-of-way of the Bay Ridge Branch, connecting ethnically and socioeconomically diverse neighborhoods.
- The MTA will now initiate formal engineering of the IBX.
Under an existing pilot program, the MTA is requiring contractors working on the New Jamaica Bus Depot, Rockaway Line Resiliency & Rehabilitation, a group of four ADA station improvements across the city, and the Broadway Junction station revitalization projects to commit to goals of 20 percent of the working hours to be performed by workers who live near the construction site or in lower income communities.
Given the success of this pilot program, Hochul is directing the MTA to expand the pilot to include the Second Avenue Subway Phase Two project, providing more jobs to workers in East Harlem.
