Top Official To Urge Federal Funding for East Side Subway Line
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters will recommend today that the Second Avenue subway line receive $200 million in federal funds in 2008 and $1.3 billion from the federal government by 2013, when the first segment of the line is slated for completion.
The announcement marks a major step toward ensuring the completion of the long-planned project, which will run to 125th Street from the financial district in Lower Manhattan and ease congestion on the 4, 5, and 6 lines. Phase one of the project will run between 63rd and 96th streets.
"This is the verification that all signs are go," a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Christopher Boylan, said.
Construction of phase one will cost $3.9 billion, and the MTA will pay for the remaining two thirds of the project's price tag.
Today Ms. Peters will also recommend earmarking an additional $215 million in 2008 to link the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal. The project, known as East Side Access, received a $2.6 billion check from the federal government at the end of last year. The project's price tag has risen to $6.3 billion from an estimated $3 billion nine years ago.
Federal funding for the MTA's construction projects comes from the New Starts program, which finances expanding public transportation systems across the nation. The New Starts fund is doling out $1.3 billion in 2008, and with $415 million recommended for the Second Avenue subway and East Side Access, New York City will likely receive about 32% of the total pot.
Today's numbers come as little surprise; the MTA has long planned that about one third of the Second Avenue subway will be funded with federal money. But after more than 70 years of planning for the line, Ms. Peters's recommendations are still good news.
"This is fantastic news for New York in general," Mr. Boylan said. "This is the final step."
