7 Train Extension

[kliq6]

As this train extension will greatly help the transformation of Hudson yards into a true community, can we start a thread tracking the progress of it, since it is to get underway soon?
If this is the wrong place to post, let me know

[NIMBYkiller]

This project is as good as dead, atleast for now. It was Bloomys pet project to entice the Olympics, which are a dead deal now.

However, I would still love to see this line extended(though I don't see it as a top priority. SAS is THE TOP priority, no questions asked).

I would say extend the 7 as planned, then further down the west side highway and tie it in with the new Fulton Street Transit Center. Include stops at the NY Waterway ferry terminal, Chelsea Piers, and Christopher Street.

IMO, they should be using the high line for this one. It's the perfect candidate for a subway extension.

[Ninjahedge]

The high line?

Are you talking about an existing structure? (I am sorry I am not familiar with it).

I know there are existing raised platforms and the like throughout the west side, but I rarely see a continuous strip, and most of the others I see do not look like they could hold rail traffic again without a considerable amount of rehab/reinforcement.

That, and as your name ironically implies, I do not think the locals would appreciate a raised subway....

[ablarc]

IMO, they should be using the high line for this one. It's the perfect candidate for a subway extension.

That would sure save some money.

[mkeit]

I don't know if the April bid openning was cancelled, but there has been no news on this. The MTA doesn't seem to realizte that it costs contractors $ 100,000+ to prepare bids that are not awarded. The 7 extension, the two ESA bids, etc.

All of this will cause fewer contactors to bid on these large projects, driving the costs even higher.

Even if the High Line wasn't slated for a park, it could never be used as a rail corridor for both phyical, political and practical reasons.

[Citytect]

Yeah, there will never be any more above ground additions to the subway system in Manhattan. Too many people would throw a fit.

[ASchwarz]

This project is as good as dead, atleast for now. It was Bloomys pet project to entice the Olympics, which are a dead deal now.

However, I would still love to see this line extended(though I don't see it as a top priority. SAS is THE TOP priority, no questions asked).

I would say extend the 7 as planned, then further down the west side highway and tie it in with the new Fulton Street Transit Center. Include stops at the NY Waterway ferry terminal, Chelsea Piers, and Christopher Street.

IMO, they should be using the high line for this one. It's the perfect candidate for a subway extension.

The 7 train has nothing to do with the Olympics. It's already approved and 100% funded in the City budget. No MTA money will be used.

I have an engineer friend who has been working on the project for the past year. I'll ask her about the general project timeline.

[NIMBYkiller]

Thank you for clearing that up.

As for the highline, according to I believe it was CSX, the last owners of the line, the high line IS structurally capable of carrying trains again.

[TonyO]

Crain's

Next stop set for No. 7 line


The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to launch the No. 7 subway line extension plan at its February board meeting. The $2 billion project would extend the No. 7 line from Times Square to West 34th Street and 11th Avenue, forming the spine of commercial and residential development on the far West Side. The board's vote would allow the Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corp. to issue preliminary construction contracts.

[macreator]

Crain's

Next stop set for No. 7 line


The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to launch the No. 7 subway line extension plan at its February board meeting. The $2 billion project would extend the No. 7 line from Times Square to West 34th Street and 11th Avenue, forming the spine of commercial and residential development on the far West Side. The board's vote would allow the Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corp. to issue preliminary construction contracts.

This is great news

[TonyO]

7 on the fast track

Bloomberg administration puts 7 line extension on the front burner

by patrick arden / metro new york

JAN 26, 2006

MANHATTAN — The 7 line appears to be on a fast track to the Far West Side, as the Bloomberg administration has asked the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to put its subway extension project on the front burner.

“We plan to start construction of the 7 line at the end of the summer, early fall,” Amanda Burden, chair of the City Planning Commission, said yesterday.

The project would extend the 7 line from Times Square to Eleventh Avenue, and then down to 34th Street.

“If you wanted to bring a corporation to New York City, there is no space left,” Burden said. “So, for the future of the city, having office space on the West Side is important.”

Subway service is the missing ingredient before developers can build a projected 24 million square feet of new office space, said Burden, as well as more than 13,000 residential units.

The city has already rezoned the area and set up the Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corporation to issue $1.9 billion in bonds to pay for the subway extension. The borrowed money is supposed to be repaid with future tax revenue generated in the area. Burden called the scheme “totally self-financed.”

The MTA’s Capital Construction subsidiary is overseeing the project. It previously scheduled the extension’s final design to be completed by December. Calls to the MTA were not returned, but Bloomberg spokesperson Jennifer Falk confirmed that groundbreaking for the 7 line extension is slated for this fall. The MTA is expected to to give a final plan the go-ahead at its next board meeting in late February.

[noik53]

Now why couldn't the secound avenue subway be this fast?

[Scruffy88]

im surprised about the quickness. everything usually moves so slow. although until i see a bulldozer, I will remain skeptical

[TranspoMan]

The No. 7 Subway Extension project got done much faster because its construction is not dependent on state and federal funding.

The Second Avenue Subway project might have moved along faster if voters did not defeat the first NYS Transportation Bond Act in 2000. The passage of the Bond Act in 2005 secured state funding for Phase I (63rd Street to 96th Street.)

http://www.mta.info/capconstr/sas/pd...iew8_18_03.pdf

[TonyO]

NY Daily News

7 train wait at end of the line?

BY MICHAEL SAUL
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

The long-awaited $2 billion extension of the No. 7 subway line could be approved by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as early as next month, the Daily News has learned.
"My expectation is we'll work out the final details over the course of the next few weeks or so," Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff told The News. "Hopefully, the MTA has a board meeting in July, we'll get it finally approved then.

"I am very, very confident that we are going to get this underway this year, and it will form the backbone of the Hudson Yards," said Doctoroff, who is spearheading the administration's plans to revitalize Manhattan's far West Side.

William Wheeler, the MTA's director of planning, said he expects construction to begin by the end of the year and to be completed by 2012.

"The design of the project has been underway for some time now," Wheeler said. "We're about two-thirds of the way through."

The city, which will pay for the extended No. 7 line, and the MTA, which will build it, are in the midst of hammering out an agreement that outlines the financial and construction details.

The project calls for extending the subway line from Times Square to the far West Side near the Javits Convention Center. City officials are hoping the extension will be a major catalyst for the development of the area.

In March, the MTA began the process of selecting a contract manager with an eye toward hiring the consulting firm this summer.

Initial demolition work is also expected to begin this summer, and construction work should begin in November or December, officials said.

MTA board member Barry Feinstein, a strong supporter of the extension, said he has been concerned about the lack of information provided about its progress. "There's been no updating on that particular project," he said.

Still, Wheeler said there have been no problems. "It's in detailed design, and we're moving right along," he said.

Originally published on June 26, 2006