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After several years of uncertain funding streams, a new slate of infrastructure projects for mass transit, highways, and other transportation systems in the region will soon be ready for contractors.
State and regional transportation agencies, especially in New York and New Jersey, have a stream of projects getting ready for bid by the end of the year and in 2006, according to speakers at a regional transportation summit held in September in Manhattan, sponsored by the Building Trades Employers' Association and New York Construction.
MTA-New York City Transit Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's New York City Transit division has one of the region's largest current construction programs, finally in focus after the New York State government adopted a $21.2 billion 2005-09 capital budget for the MTA earlier this year. Much of New York City Transit's $11.3 billion share will go toward its program of rehabilitating existing subway and bus facilities to reach a "state of good repair" by 2024, said Cosema Crawford, senior vice president and chief engineer for the division. The capital plan also funds system improvements and replacement of equipment, including subway and bus fleets.
"The stunning number is that what's left to go in current dollars to get us into a state of good repair by 2024 is $20 billion," she said at the event. "In this current program, we've got $11.3 billion overall. We really needed about $16 billion to keep us on pace. Now we're closer to 2030 to get us to a state of good repair."
Nevertheless, a number of new projects are coming on line with that larger goal in mind. Among them are:
* bids going out next year for a $242 million rehabilitation of the 207th St. subway shop and yard in Manhattan that supports A-line trains
* two bids going out this year and one next year for fan plant rehabilitation projects
* three bids going out this year and three next year for substation rehabilitation projects
* three bids going out to reconstruct or reconfigure bus depots: an $82 million project for the East New York depot in Brooklyn; a $125 million project for the Jamaica depot in Queens; and a $63 million project at the Mother Clara Hale depot in Manhattan
* and various design contracts for similar projects that would appear in the 2010-2014 capital plan.
N.Y.S. Department of Transportation
Another speaker, Tim Gilchrist, director of the Office of Downstate Transportation Strategy for the New York State Department of Transportation, discussed the five priority areas for his agency - improving mobility, increasing safety, enhancing transportation systems security, improving environmental conditions, and supporting economic development. He also described how the funding sources for such projects have shifted.
"The capital program is primarily state-funded," he said. "Twenty years ago, it was probably 70 percent federal. Now we've really moved to where the majority of funding is coming from state-dedicated funds and the bond act."
In terms of capital projects, Gilchrist said the transportation department is relying on the passage of a $2.9 billion bond referendum before voters this month to supply $1.45 billion, primarily for highway and bridge projects, over five years.
He said that planned projects include:
* $1.1 billion for highways and bridges, including transforming Route 17 near the Pennsylvania border west of Binghamton into the continuation of Interstate 86
* $135 million for rail, freight, and port improvements
* $76 million for aviation-related projects
* and $50 million for the canal system operated by the state Thruway Authority.
The Port Authority of N.Y. and N.J.
The program also featured Peter Zipf, deputy chief engineer of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who described the $8 billion capital plan that his agency has for 2005-07, which includes prominent projects such as the $2 billion World Trade Center transportation hub. He also described the agency's recent structural changes.
"The agency is going through an organizational change program on how we can do business better, how we can be more effective, how we can be more efficient," Zipf said. "And one thing is that we look to centralize the delivery of our projects. With that we've created a centralized project management department within the agency, and John Drobny is the recently appointed head of that department."
The Authority expects to do about 38 percent of its capital work in-house, bid out 52 percent to consultants, and extend 10 percent to job shoppers.
He said the agency has $1.7 billion allocated for the capital plan in 2005 alone and $5.8 billion allocated through 2007. The plan includes:
* $591 million for bridges, tunnels, and terminals
* $1.88 billion for aviation and airport access programs
* $1.87 billion for the PATH subway system, the restoration program for Downtown Manhattan, and the World Trade Center site
* and $659 million for port commerce and economic development projects.
New York State Thruway Authority
The New York State Thruway Authority has begun a $2 billion capital plan adopted last December, largely to upgrade the 50-year-old infrastructure of its main charge, the New York State Thruway, said another speaker, Ramesh Mehta, who is the authority's New York division director.
"We have challenges ahead of us, because the infrastructure is 50 years old, and most of it needs a lot of work," he said. "Over the years, we also took on additional responsibilities - we took over I-84 and I-287 from the Department of Transportation. We operate and maintain those two roads. We also took over the canal system."
Among the projects in the authority's $2 billion plan are:
* more than 500 miles of new and rehabilitated highway projects
* work on more than 200 bridges
* a switch to higher-speed and highway-speed E-ZPass toll payment systems
* improvements to the Thruway's Woodbury and Yonkers toll plazas
* and $100 million for Tappan Zee Bridge rehabilitation work over the next seven years, on top of its normal $5 million in annual maintenance.
NJ Dept. of Transportation, New Jersey Transit
On the New Jersey side, a slate of repair and rehabilitation projects for bridges and roadways is in the works, along with plans to expand the capacity of the state's mass transit systems.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation has $2.7 billion in place for its current FY 2006 capital spending plan, said Mark Stout, the agency's director of capital investment planning and development, who also spoke at the event.
The capital funding splits between $1.6 billion for the department and $1.1 billion for NJ Transit, the state's rail and bus agency. The majority of the funds for the transportation department are for bridge and highway work, but very little would add new capacity, Stout said.
"Our priority has been for several years, and continues to be, to correct our deficiencies and get our infrastructure back to a state of good repair," Stout said. "The amount we spend on adding capacity to our highway system is about 3 percent. The key reason is that our need for infrastructure renewal is so vast."
The plan allocates $390 million for bridge improvements, including replacement of the Rt. 52 viaduct, which connects Ocean City and Somers Point, one of the largest transportation projects in the state's history.
On the transit end, the FY 2006 capital program allocates $205 million for rail improvements that includes track replacement, security upgrades, and installation of train control systems.
New Jersey Transit's highest-profile project is the Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel, which would cross under the Hudson River and double capacity on its rail commuter lines, said Arthur Silber, who is chief of the project for New Jersey Transit.
The two-track tunnel would take trains into Manhattan, terminating at a newly built passenger station at 34th Street, just north of the existing Pennsylvania Station. It would allow one-seat rides into Manhattan from all of the agency's commuter rail lines, some of which now end at Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey.
The $6 billion project will use a combination of methods - including a tunnel boring machine, drilling, and blasting - to dig through a stretch of rock and limited soft ground that is 43,780 ft. long. Money for the project is coming from the state and federal governments and from the Port Authority.
"We're looking for a record of decision on the final environmental impact statement in a little more than a year from now and to begin some construction on the earlier items in 2007, begin tunnel construction in 2009, and roll our first train through the tunnel into the station in 2015," Silber said. "We plan on issuing RFPs for preliminary engineering, final engineering, and construction management services later this year."
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