$10B Port Authority Bus Terminal replacement project moves forward
Rendering courtesy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The $10 billion project to replace the decrepit Port Authority Bus Terminal is moving forward. The City Planning Commission (CPC) on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve the Midtown bus terminal’s revamp project, which replaces the dreary, aging 74-year-old facility with a vibrant, modern transit hub featuring ground-floor retail space and a public park. Plans to replace the terminal first surfaced more than 10 years ago to account for the expected growth in ridership. The plan now heads to the City Council for a vote.
To the west of the terminal on 40th Street between Ninth and 10th Avenues, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) aims to build a new bus storage facility, where buses can idle before heading to gates to pick up riders. Presently, buses sit and wait, causing traffic on nearby streets.
As part of the redesign, existing traffic lanes on Dyer Avenue will be covered with a roughly 3.5-acre public park. A winding ramp connecting the Lincoln Tunnel to the terminal would comprise the western portion of the project, spanning the existing footprint of the site along 40th Street to 10th and 11th Avenues, according to Crain’s New York.
The new park, ramps, and storage space could be completed by 2028, while the main terminal building is slated for completion in 2032.
Additionally, the plan calls for part of 41st Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues to be closed permanently and a multi-story glass atrium will act as a grand entrance at 41st Street, as 6sqft previously reported.
Two commercial skyscrapers will be built along Eighth Avenue on the corner of 40th and 42nd Streets, the revenue from which will help fund the project. A third office tower, to be built on land bounded by West 30th and West 31st Streets and Ninth and 10th Avenues, would also support the project.
The Port Authority and Mayor Eric Adams agreed in March to an arrangement that contributes up to $2 billion in property tax revenue from the commercial towers to help fund the terminal’s redevelopment, according to Crain’s.
The new terminal will feature five operational bus floors with more space for buses to navigate, including 40 intercity bus gates, as well as expanded bus storage allowing for 300 to 350 buses instead of the current 50.
The two proposed commercial towers to rise on either side of the terminal could be as tall as 1,344 feet and 926 feet. Additionally, the main terminal will feature street-facing retail space.
Plans to replace the terminal, which was constructed in 1950 and last expanded in 1981, first surfaced in 2013. Since then, roughly 30 separate proposals have been produced.
On an average weekday in 2019, the terminal saw approximately 260,000 passengers on 7,800 buses, making up roughly 23 percent of trips in and out of Manhattan’s core. However, officials estimate that this number could rise to 337,000 passengers daily by 2040, as reported by Crain’s.
In August 2022, the Port Authority selected the architecture firm Foster + Partners and the engineering and design team Epstein to design the new facility, and renderings of the project’s current design were released earlier this year.
Last month, the Port Authority and the Federal Transit Administration signed the final environmental impact statement for the terminal’s redevelopment. The signing, a major step towards a federal record of decision on the project, followed a final round of public hearings that produced more than 700 public comments.
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