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Length Matters
No. 7 Subway Extension Seen as
Vital to Far West Side Development
by Natalie Keith
If the Jets stadium and the new Farley-Penn Station projects
are the head and neck of Far West Side development, then the
extension of the No. 7 subway line is the spine.
Many view the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's $2
billion plan to extend the line - which currently ends at
Times Square - as critical to meeting the needs of a neighborhood
underserved by public transportation.
The project will extend the line from Times Square along
42nd Street and down 11th Avenue to the Jacob Javits Convention
Center area. Right now, the area is served by buses.
"It's the only place where you can stand on a corner
for an hour on a cold winter night and not see a yellow cab,"
said Robert Boyle, chairman of the Jacob K. Javits Convention
Center, when plans for the Jets stadium were announced in
March.
In addition to the subway extension, the project involves
the adoption of zoning map and text amendments to the New
York City Zoning Resolution aimed at increasing development
in the neighborhood known as Hudson Yards.
The MTA is proceeding with environmental and preliminary
engineering work and is hoping to award the first tunneling
contract for the project late this year or early 2005. The
subway extension is expected to be operational by 2010, said
Mysore Nagaraja, president of the MTA's Capital Construction
Co.
Under the broader plan for the development of the Far West
Side, the MTA will give the land in the Hudson Yards area
to the city in exchange for the city paying for the subway
project. To finance the subway extension, the city plans to
sell bonds backed by payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs,
which are agreements by developers to pay fees in exchange
for a full exemption on property taxes.
The extension will increase average weekday boardings from
approximately 450,000 to 600,000. Currently, 27 trains operate
per hour during peak periods, which is the maximum that can
be run given the configuration of the two-track stub end terminal
at the Times Square Station and limitations of the existing
signal system.
The extension will include a new three-track terminal and
provisions to accommodate communications-based train control
to allow up to 30 trains per hour on the line.
A $40.8 million contract was awarded to a team led by Parsons
Brinckerhoff of New York to design the extension. The team
includes STV Group Inc. of New York and The Louis Berger Group
of East Orange, N.J.
The team is responsible for completing an environmental impact
statement along with preliminary engineering documents that
include alternative analyses for the overall route, station
locations and design scenarios. It's also responsible for
the final design of all utility relocations and preparation
of a design/build procurement package for the running tunnel
portion of the project.
The extension is being designed in accordance with MTA New
York City Transit's Design for the Environment program. It
will comply with the environmental standards of ISO 14001
and will contribute to fulfilling New York State executive
order 111, which mandates increased energy efficiency by state
agencies.
Parsons Brinckerhoff program manager Phil McGrade said a
draft generic impact statement was to be issued in June, with
a final statement completed by September or October. A request
for proposals will be issued on the project, which is expected
to require six or seven contractors to complete.
"In anticipation of a favorable finding, we've been
conducting industry outreach sessions with drill and tunnel
boring contractors," McGrade said.
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