The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $29 billion 2015-2019 Capital Program is disappointing for Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway project.
The original $34 billion October 24, 2014 plan programmed $1.535 billion including $575 million in potential federal New Starts funding. The revised plan only budgets $535 million (assuming no federal New Starts funding).
This reduced budget will go for environmental review, preliminary and final design, real estate along with utility relocation.
Request for construction funding is postponed to the next MTA 2020 – 2024 Five Year Capital Program. The federal government has considered Phase 2 work part of an active ongoing project. If the MTA does not proceed with this phase of the Second Avenue subway, Washington may ask for its money back for the unused tunnel section built in the 1970s from 110th Street to 120th Street funded with federal dollars.
The MTA could owe Uncle Sam millions.
In February 2015, the Federal Department of Transportation and the MTA executed an amended Full Funding Grant Agreement for the Second Avenue Subway Phase I project reflecting the changes in cost and schedule to the project. The amended FFGA includes a cost of $5.57 billion and a revenue service date for no later than February 28, 2018. As in the original FFGA, the $1.3 billion of federal grant funding remains unchanged with the MTA as local sponsor having to cover the $1 billion in cost overruns.
It will take two decades more and $20 billion for completion of the next three segments north to 125th Street and south downtown to the Financial District.
Moving construction for Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 from the 2015 – 2019 to next 2020 – 2024 MTA Five Year Capital Program means giving up $575 million in potential federal transportation New Starts funding that might not be there tomorrow.
Without providing local matching dollars, MTA forfeits the opportunity to leverage these dollars for additional federal funds.
There are dozens of other potential New Starts projects being championed by many other 99 Senators and 435 Congress members. The requests far exceed any available New Starts funding.
As the list grows year after year, there will be fewer winners and many more losers. .
The original proposed 2010 – 2014 MTA $29 billion Five Year Capital Plan was cut to $24.2 billion before being approved. Funding for environmental review, design and engineering for initial Phase 2 work could have been provided. These activities could have proceeded in parallel with construction of Phase 1. Phase 2 would have been ready for construction funding in 2017.
Existing contractors working on Phase One have staging areas for supplies, support equipment and employees already mobilized.
This would make it easier to initiate Phase Two work perhaps resulting in lower bids. MTA might have saved up to several hundred million in construction costs.
Postponing construction bids for Phase Two work years later to 2020 or later will clearly result in higher bids. Who knows what inflation rates may be during that time period.
The MTA original and revised Five Year 2015 – 2019 Capital Plan provides $695 million for Metro North Bronx Penn Station Access project. This includes construction dollars with a promised beneficial use date of 2019.
This new service is dependent upon MTA East Side Access project affording the Long Island Rail Road beneficial use of Grand Central Terminal. Based upon numerous past project delays, it is likely that the LIRR will not be providing service into Grand Central Terminal until 2023 or 2024.
There is no capacity at Penn Station for Metro North until the LIRR can reallocate some service to Grand Central Terminal.
There is no room to run additional trains into or out of Penn Station during either a.m. or p.m. rush hours via the East River tunnels with connections to Long Island. Three of four tunnels running inbound during a.m. and outbound p.m. rush hours have very tight spacing between trains.
One tunnel is shared by the LIRR, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak for reverse train movements with equally tight spacing during rush hours. There is no platform capacity at Penn Station to accommodate any additional trains during rush hour.
Penn Station is currently operating at 100 percent capacity during both a.m. and p.m. rush hours. If one of the four tunnels is temporarily out of service, the result is numerous delays and cancellation of trains.
Why the rush to complete Metro North Penn Station Access by 2019 as promised by Governor Cuomo when he announced support for this project in 2014?
Reallocate the $600 million to the Second Avenue subway project. The $95 million balance could cover environmental, preliminary, final design and engineering work for Metro North Penn Station Access project in the 2015 – 2019 Capital Plan.
The balance of $600 million for actual construction could be provided in the next 2020 – 2024 Capital Plan. Completion of this work could realistically coincide with MTA Eastside Access project. Adding these $600 million to support construction of Second Avenue Subway Phase Two might make more sense.
This could give the MTA a fighting chance to compete for $575 in federal New Starts funding.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
(Larry Penner is a transportation historian and advocate who previously worked in the transportation field for 31 years).
