The MTA Board's capital program committee approved two contracts totaling $17.3 million for repair work, including design services for New York City Transit fan plants and pump rooms and additional structural repairs on the 7 line in Queens.
The committee approved a $14.5 million design contract with Arup US Inc. for the rehabilitation of fan plants and pump rooms, with final design documents due within 16 months. It also ratified a $2.84 million change to a contract with Judlau Contracting Inc. to replace 22 girder flanges at the 52nd Street and 69th Street stations on the 7 line after inspectors found additional deterioration in the steel once work had begun.
Troy Springer said the additional work relates to steel identified after the contract for the flushing line work commenced, and said these structures are older than similar infrastructure elsewhere. He said more invasive testing before some projects go out to bid may be necessary, even though that typically requires service outages.
Officials also briefed the committee on a series of capital projects. They said the Fulton-Liberty signal modernization project on the A and C lines was officially kicked off last week, with construction in earnest, including switch and track work between Rockaway Boulevard and Ozone Park-Lefferts Boulevard, set to begin early next month and require closing three stations for about a week with bus substitutions. The MTA also broke ground on a project to make the Bryant Park and 42nd Street-Fifth Avenue subway complex fully accessible, and reported that a 20-station fare gate pilot cut fare evasion by an average of 35 percent, with reductions as high as 72 percent at some stations; all three vendor designs have been approved for the next phase.
On Long Island, officials said a new bridge and track at the Jamaica interlocking were placed into service Oct. 12, with up to 90 trains a day now using the route as part of an effort to address what has been called the "Jamaica crawl." Station rehabilitations at Babylon, Forest Hills and Hollis are advancing, with Babylon's new platforms already open, Forest Hills targeted for substantial completion in November 2027, and Hollis also being targeted for completion in November, officials said. On Metro North, officials said the Park Avenue Viaduct replacement was completed 60 months ahead of schedule and $195 million under budget without delaying any trains.
During public comment, Christopher D. Greif, who described himself as president of a transportation accessibility group, urged the MTA to continue expanding accessibility features beyond elevators. "But we still need to continue working on other projects for accessibility, for deaf and blind communities," he said.
Nia James, speaking for the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, welcomed signage highlighting congestion-pricing-funded projects. "PCAC has long called for the signs to highlight how essential this program is to delivering on the MTA's capital needs," she said.
The committee also heard that a redevelopment of MTA-owned parking at the Westbury Long Island Rail Road station into 184 rental apartments, retail space and a public plaza was advancing toward approval, with the committee chair noting the project had been in the works since an earlier third-track expansion effort.