The designs were completed by architect Santiago Calatrava with the Downtown Design Partnership, led by the joint venture of DMJM + Harris and STV Group, Inc.

The glass roof above the hub's freestanding grand pavilion, featuring ribbed arches that evoke a cathedral, will open each year on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Glass-and-steel winds will rise up to 150 feet. Natural light will reach rail platforms 60 feet below street level.

The $2 billion hub will include:

• A permanent Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) terminal that eventually will serve more than 80,000 daily PATH riders, including tens of thousands of commuters and millions of annual visitors to the World Trade Center Memorial
  
• Pedestrian connections that will significantly improve access to PATH, ferries and subway lines across Lower Manhattan. By 2020, these connections are expected to accommodate 250,000 daily commuters and visitors
  
• Greater open space in the Wedge of Light Plaza and additional access from Church Street to the Memorial District
  
• State-of-the-art safety, security and environmental enhancements.

The permanent PATH terminal is expected to begin serving passengers by the end of 2006. All elements of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub are scheduled for completion by 2009.

 

Linking Lower Manhattan to Long Island

Four alternatives for improved rail access from Lower Manhattan to Long Island and JFK International Airport were revealed.

The "short-list" is the mid-point result of a feasibility study being conducted by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Four options have been identified to provide direct access to Long Island and JFK Airport. The options also provide improved service between Downtown Brooklyn and the Long Island Rail Road hub at Jamaica, Queens. The options are:

• New Tunnel. Service between Lower Manhattan and JFK & Jamaica using the AirTrain/JFK route, the converted Atlantic Branch, new tunneling in Brooklyn, a new East River tunnel and new tunneling in Manhattan.
  
• Montague Tunnel. (Currently serves the M, N, R subway lines) Service between Lower Manhattan and JFK & Jamaica using the AirTrain/JFK route, the converted Atlantic Branch, new tunneling in Brooklyn, the Montague Street Tunnel, and MTA-NYCT Broadway and/or Nassau Line.
  
• Cranberry Tunnel. (Currently serves the A, C subway lines) Service between Lower Manhattan and JFK & Jamaica using the AirTrain/JFK Route, the converted Atlantic Branch, new tunneling in Brooklyn, the Cranberry Street Tunnel and MTA-NYCT Fulton Line (A/C)
  
• Montague and Cranberry Tunnel Combination. Service between Lower Manhattan and JFK & Jamaica using the AirTrain/JFK route, the converted Atlantic Branch, and both the Cranberry and Montague Street Tunnels.

The selected alternative, along with a financing framework, will be announced by the end of April. A timeline for implementation including construction start date and the beginning dates of potential interim/early phases of the new service will be released in the spring.