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Getting There From Here
Improving Mass Transit
a Priority for Thriving New York Area
by Natalie Keith
About $1 billion work of transportation construction is planned
over the next three to four years within a mile radius in
Lower Manhattan, and that's just the beginning.
With the New York metropolitan area continuing to grow, the
need for improved transportation is resulting in billions
of dollars worth of projects.
"It's a major challenge for the industry," said
Mysore Nagaraja, president of the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority's Capital Construction Co. "We've been doing
a lot of outreach to the contracting community."
The MTA is embarking on several huge transportation projects,
including the Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access, expansion
of the No. 7 subway line to the West Side, the Fulton Transit
Center and the new South Ferry subway station complex.
At the same time, the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey are in the process of several major initiatives such
as the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, new passenger
rail serve to the New Jersey Meadowlands and replacing the
capacity-constrained Goethals Bridge.
The state and city transportation departments are undertaking
a host of road and bridge projects of their own, such as the
West Street project.
"The Port Authority's 2004 budget includes a wide range
of investments in regional infrastructure and economic development
projects that are vitally important to the long-term success
of the region's economy," Charles Gargano, Port Authority
vice chairman, said in a prepared statement regarding the
budget.
Many regard the MTA projects as among those critical to the
city's future ability to handle its anticipated growth. Most
are in the early phases of implementation but will heat up
as the year progresses.
In February, the MTA board of directors awarded the construction
management contract for the Fulton Street Transit project,
a $750 million project fully funded by the federal government,
to a joint venture of Bovis Lend Lease and Parsons Brinckerhoff.
By the end of the year, work on the 2/3 and 4/5 subway lines
will begin. More contracts pertaining to this project will
be awarded early in 2005, Nagaraja said.
For the $400 million South Ferry Terminal project, the MTA
has decided to award the project based on a request-for-proposals
process. The agency is hoping to award the contract in September.
The MTA recently awarded a $10 million contract for the $5.3
billion East Side Access project, Nagaraja added.
"We are hoping to award the Manhattan tunnel and Queens
excavation contracts by the end of the year," he said.
As far as the $17 billion Second Avenue subway project, the
MTA is considering various options for building the new line
that will run from 125th Street in Harlem to Lower Manhattan.
The MTA has completed the environmental impact statement and
is hoping to get a record of decision in the spring. The agency
will award the first of the contracts on that project in early
2005, Nagaraja said.
The expansion of the No. 7 subway line is also proceeding
with environmental and preliminary engineering work.
"Once the city finalizes the funding, we want to award
the first tunneling contract late in 2004 or early 2005,"
said Nagaraja.
The many projects being completed within a relatively short
period of time is causing logistical challenges. With this
in mind, Nagaraja hosted a meeting in February with representatives
of the MTA, Port Authority, state and city Departments of
Transportation and about 120 contractors. Among issues discussed
were establishing uniform terms and conditions under which
agencies operate.
"We came up with a lot of good ideas," he said.
"Now we're following up with some of them."
As part of a federal requirement to receive funding, the
New York Metropolitan Transportation Council - the region's
metropolitan planning organization - is drafting a regional
transportation plan. The council is hosting a series of public
meetings to gather input for the plan, which will ultimately
be funded through federal, state and local sources. It is
expected to cost $145 billion over the next 20 years.
A draft of the full update is required by April 1, 2005.
The plan will cover every mode of transportation, from walking
and bicycling to highways, transit, ferries and freight transportation.
It will include Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties,
the five boroughs of New York City and Nassau and Suffolk
counties on Long Island.
Congestion, air quality and safety are key considerations
in the plan, along with transportation issues related to population
and employment changes in the region over the next 20 years.
About 64 percent of New York State's population lives in
the areas included in the plan, a total area of 2,440 sq.
mi. with 12.2 million people. The region's transportation
network carries 550,000 people per day on commuter rail, 3.1
million on buses, 4.6 million on rail rapid transit, 128,500
on ferries, 150,000 on airlines and millions more on the region's
roads.
About 826,000 people move between New York and New Jersey
by rail and bus, and thousands more via roads, bridges and
tunnels, according to the council.
About 1.04 million people are expected to move to the New
York metropolitan region by 2025. Employment is expected to
increase by 11 percent, with 750,000 more jobs added to the
region, according to the council.
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