(Source: Opinion column by Larry Penner at www.metro.us, October 30, 2017)
NEW YORK — Proposals by Amtrak to delay the decades-overdue major repairs to the four East River tunnels until after the LIRR begins service into Grand Central Terminal in December 2023 is bad news for both riders and taxpayers. Delaying the start of work by six years from 2019 to 2025 will increase costs by 300 percent to $1 billion. How will Amtrak and MTA come up with an almost $600 million shortfall? Continued deterioration of the East River Tunnels over this time period could result in an increased scope of work. Combined with responses to the procurement process from contractors, this could then result in a final price tag of several hundred million more than the current engineers estimate. Remember only one of four East River Tunnels can be worked on at a time. It will take one to two years to finish work on each tunnel. As a result, this project may not be completed until 2032.
Full story: www.metro.us