The Reconstruction of the Times Square Station

Cost: $95 million

Development Team

Owner: New York City Transit, NYC
General Contractor: Slattery Skanska/Gottieb Skanska Inc., a joint venture, Whitestone, NY
Architect/Planner: William Nicholas Bodouva & Associates, NYC
Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox, NYC
Structural/Civic Engineer: Vollmer Associates LLP, NYC
Mechanical/Electrical Engineer: Mariano D. Molina PC, NYC
Elevator and Escalator Consultant: Van Deusen & Associates, Livingston, N.J.
Consultant Construction Manager: Bovis Lend Lease LMB/CTE Engineers,
a joint venture, NYC

Times Square is known as "the crossroads of the world," and it is the complex subway station under its neon-lit streets that has given it that reputation.

It is New York City's busiest subway station, an intersection for trains from throughout Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. A half a million people get on or off or transfer to other trains in the station daily.

It has long been slated for renovation and upgrade. A decade ago, Park Tower Realty, which then owned property on the ground above the station, planned to build new office towers and agreed to fund a renovation. When the real estate crash of the early 1990s put an end to Park Tower's plans, both above and below ground, New York City Transit and its mother agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, took over responsibility for the much-needed modernization.

Work began in December 1998 and phase one of the project was completed in September of last year. With William Nicholas Bodouva serving as architect, Vollmer Associates LLP working as structural and civil engineers and general contracting provided by Slattery Skanska/Gottieb Skanska Inc., NYCT has changed the look and feel of the station along with the efficiency of passenger flow.

Most noticeable was the reorientation of the mezzanine over the BMT line (the R and N trains). "It was a winding dark corridor; we've opened it up and widened the sight lines," said Joseph Trainor, project manager for NYCT. "We've created an ellipse area over the N and R that not only allows you to see from one level to the other, but allows the heat to rise from the lower platforms."

The work completed also includes the installation of two elevators down to the R and N platforms, the widening of the Seventh Avenue corridor and the rehabilitation of the IRT platform, where the 1, 2, 3 and 9 trains arrive and depart. In addition, two other elevator shafts were dug, which will allow phase two of the project to bring elevators down to the No. 7 train from Queens, which arrives at the station's lowest level.

The restructuring of the BMT mezzanine involved moving a significant number of utility lines. "Thousands and thousands of telephone lines had to be moved without disrupting service," said Thomas Higgins, a partner with Vollmer. Also rerouted were four water mains, three Con Edison electrical networks, a gas main and a sewer.

Vollmer has worked closely with private developers working above ground to design and build flashy new subway entrances into their buildings.

Higgins said that engineering problems paled next to logistical ones. "The most challenging aspect of the project was coordinating work among the Transit Authority, outside agencies such as the Department of Environmental Protection, the Sewer Department, the Water Department, private utilities such as Con Ed and Empire City Subway, which owns all the telephone lines underground, and the private developers," he added. "The engineering was a lot simpler than that."

Phase two of the renovation/restructuring, expected to cost $91 million, is already under way.