OWNER: Metropolitan Transportation Authority/New York City Transit, NYC
ARCHITECT AND PLANNERS: William Nicholas Bodouva & Associates, NYC
ARCHITECT: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, NYC
STRUCTURAL & CIVIL ENGINEER: Vollmer Associates, NYC
MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING ENGINEER: Mariano D. Molina, PC, NYC
ARTIST DESIGN COLABORATOR: Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts for Transit, NYC
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Slattery Skanska Inc/Gottlieb Skanska Inc., a joint venture, Whitestone, NY
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Bovis Lend Lease LMB Inc/CTE Engineers, a joint venture, NYC

Speeding on track and into the 21st Century is the Times Square subway station. Serving as a hub for the New York City Transit system, this complex needed to be brought up to date and expanded to meet the needs of a growing traveling public.

Serving as a conductor for this growth was the first phase of the $83 million Reconstruction of the Times Square Complex. Included in the project was the expansion of the 41st Street and Seventh Avenue mezzanine. This part of the project required demolition and excavation of the subway roof. Workers had to relocate and temporarily support major utilities below the roadway and then install a complex decking system to allow traffic to run smoothly overhead while construction took place underground.

There was also extensive demolition and the new construction of stairways, concrete floors, platforms and precast glass block sidewalk panels. In addition, fare arrays were relocated and there was a need for extensive electrical, signal and minor mechanical and plumbing work. Architectural elements included the installation of metal rails and floor and wall tile, including several types of ornate mosaics. Another aesthetic improvement was the construction of an ellipse, a vertical cut through the center of the Broadway mezzanine to provide passengers with a view of the interior perimeter.

Construction of the new mezzanine had to take place at a lowered elevation and in the same location as an existing pedestrian corridor that was not in service. To do this required a reduction of 18-in. in the floor beam length over the subway tracks. A special compact fabricated steel section was also used in the new framing to accomplish this task.

In addition, the street decking used during construction could not change the existing street grade by more than six-in. Due to this constraint. The amount of utilities and the fact that decking had to be limited to 22-in. thick, 12-in. decking beams with small spans were required.
A phased schedule was developed so the work could be performed while the station remained operational. In addition, parts of platforms and entrances required temporary closure to minimize disruption to passenger flow and station operations.

The jury said, "the challenges faced by this project team included performing construction while keeping the station operational, making what was once two stations into one and site logistics." They praised the project team for developing "innovative solutions, including a wider 7th Avenue passageway."