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Push to Replace Port Authority Bus Terminal |
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Posted by Euclid Avenue A Train on Tue Mar 17 17:19:16 2015 From The Wall Street JournalSee web page for photos and charts. http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-push-to-fix-port-authority-bus-terminal-1426547679 Push to Replace Port Authority Bus Terminal New depot is estimated to cost up to $11 billion By Andrew Tangel Updated March 17, 2015 12:47 p.m. ET When the Port Authority Bus Terminal opened in 1950, it helped New York City funnel a growing number of buses carrying commuters into Manhattan’s West Side. Today, the terminal west of Times Square is a major chokepoint for bus traffic from New Jersey suburbs. Commuters complain of delays, crowding and a dreary environment. Like Penn Station about 10 blocks to the south, the terminal is also the butt of jokes. Last summer, the comedian John Oliver declared it “the single worst place on Planet Earth” and joked that even cockroaches are trying to escape. Now the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has preliminary estimates for how much it could cost to replace its eponymous terminal: $8 billion to $11 billion, a potential price tag rivaling that of a project to dig new passenger rail tunnels under the Hudson River. The terminal is expected to take the spotlight at the Port Authority’s board meeting on Thursday, highlighting how the agency is trying to refocus on regional transportation in the wake of the September 2013 scandal involving lane-closures at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, N.J. “It is an existential mission,” said Kenneth Lipper, a Port Authority commissioner from New York who has pushed for replacing the terminal. “We must do it.” Talk of replacing the terminal comes as the Port Authority also seeks to play a starring role in jump-starting a project to build two rail tunnels under the Hudson River. An earlier tunnel project, known as Access to the Region’s Core, or ARC, was killed in 2010 by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over concerns that his state’s taxpayers would end up paying for cost overruns. But the push to replace or overhaul the terminal comes as the timing of the Hudson River tunnel project and another major Port Authority construction project—an overhaul of the maligned Central Terminal Building building at La Guardia Airport in Queens—remain uncertain. Amtrak, the national passenger railroad, now estimates its plan to build two tunnels as part of a set of upgrades known as Gateway, could cost from $15 billion to $20 billion. Last year, Amtrak said it might need to close its two existing tunnels between New York and New Jersey for major repairs in coming years. A closure of those tunnels, which opened in 1910, threatens to snarl traffic on the East Coast amid growing ridership for Amtrak and NJ Transit commuter train riders. Replacing the Port Authority Bus Terminal could take a decade a longer. But more daunting would be to work on both the depot and tunnel project simultaneously, while also finding enough capacity in the transportation network to keep people moving between both states. “It’s like a big puzzle,” said Rich Barone, director of transportation programs at the Regional Plan Association. “We have to look at all the pieces and figure out how we actually put this thing together.” While both projects are expensive, the terminal handles twice as many riders as Penn Station handles rail passengers from New Jersey during the morning peak. About 80,000 riders enter Manhattan through the terminal during the weekday morning rush hours, compared with about 40,000 who take trains into Penn Station from New Jersey, Mr. Barone said. Bus traffic into Manhattan through the nearby Lincoln Tunnel has jumped significantly over the past decade, according to the RPA. In 2003, 6,556 buses carrying 133,835 riders came through the Lincoln Tunnel on the average weekday, nearly all of them heading to the terminal, according to the RPA. More than a decade later, ridership was up about 30%, according to the RPA. In 2013, there were 6,905 buses carrying 174,396 riders over the same route on an average day. The Port Authority expects the terminal’s rush-hour passenger traffic to grow by as much as 51% by 2040. The Port Authority’s meeting comes ahead of a forum expected in May to discuss the transportation needs between New York and New Jersey. While the authority takes steps toward a major overhaul for the terminal, it has focused short-term fixes on including repairs to the leaky ceilings, upgrades to restrooms and improvements to ventilation. Meanwhile, Evan Cutler, a TV producer who lives in Upper Montclair, N.J., commutes to work after the morning rush to avoid delays getting buses through the Lincoln Tunnel and into the crowded terminal. On his way home, he confronts disorganized, long lines. “It’s a terrible combination of lack of ventilation, the most depressing décor possible and just complete anarchy,” Mr. Cutler said. Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com |
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