Safety, Terror Concerns Addressed In New East Side Access Designs
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Worries over 6,000-gallon fuel tanks considered prime terrorist targets and a cooling system that spews harmful bacteria into the air have been addressed as part of a plan to bring Long Island Rail Road service to Grand Central Terminal.
Designs for one of the most controversial aspects of a plan known as East Side Access, a ventilation facility to be constructed on East 50th Street between Madison and Park avenues, have been altered significantly to address safety concerns.
The fuel needed to run emergency generators will be relocated deeper below ground near East 44th Street, on the concourse level of Grand Central Terminal, according to plans drafted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
A cooling tower critics believed would emit a mist of water vapor containing harmful bacteria has been relocated to the roof of 300 Park Ave., a 25-story building.
The redesigned building now leaves room for a park, since the building’s footprint has been cut in half to 40 feet from 80 feet – with the park slated to occupy the remainder of the plot. The new design calls for a shorter building, reduced to 62 feet from 153 feet.
The scaled-down design, which will be used to ventilate new tunnels and a terminal below Grand Central Terminal, will mean a shorter building time – now estimated at two and a half years instead of six.
“Certainly the MTA has listened to concerns of residents and businesses in the neighborhood and has done a good job at allaying a lot of the concerns,” an Assemblyman representing Midtown, Jonathan Bing, said. But he added: “I’m reserving judgment until I hear more from the community.”
The designs are more relevant in light of the $2.9 billion transportation bond approved by voters last month, which included $450 million for East Side Access and the promise of federal matching funds. The chairman of the MTA, Peter Kalikow, told a state Assembly hearing Monday that federal funding for the project will be committed in the second quarter of 2006.
A spokesman for the Federal Transit Administration, Paul Griffo, said the redesigned project will be evaluated in an annual report to be published in February detailing how much federal funding transit projects will receive.
