MTA announces $750M plan to overhaul 42nd Street subway stations
Renderings courtesy of Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The MTA has unveiled a new plan to integrate all the planned work along the 42nd Street corridor—at the Grand Central, Bryant Park, and Times Square stations—into one project. In doing so, the agency expects the newly bundled 42nd Street Connection project will both cut costs and speed up the schedule. The plan encompasses several rehabilitation projects along one of the city’s busiest transportation corridors, including the redesign and rebuild of the 42nd Street shuttle.
The ongoing work is being overseen by the MTA’s new capital project group, MTA Construction & Development. According to the agency, the 42nd Street Corridor serves more than 1.1 million people every day, so much of the work is focused on making it easier to move around. The phased work will create more mezzanine space and larger platforms, add new elevators/escalators and reconstruct old ones, redesign staircases, and add more turnstiles.
A crucial component of the project is bringing the 42nd Street Shuttle to ADA standards. In addition to new street elevators and expanded fare control areas, the tracks along the shuttle’s line will be straightened to remove the gaps between the platform and the trains. The work will also replace the current signal system—which dates back to the 1930s—and upgrade the electrical infrastructure for more reliable service. The new project management team expects to see the work completed in 36 months, compared to the original 49 months.
All in all, the entire project will cost $750 million. In the five months since work started, the agency claims to have saved $10 million without having to interrupt service. Elements of the work will start wrapping up as early as next month with the entire overhaul expected to be completed in 2025.
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Renderings courtesy of Metropolitan Transportation Authority
