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The final design for the Fulton Transit Center is still to be announced
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While the main Fulton Street Transit Center building design remains tied to federal funding allocations, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) says the structure’s foundation work is well underway at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Street.
What may be of even better news to the community is that the MTA
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| Peter Minuit Plaza will complete the terminal |
has started rehabilitating the R/W Cortlandt Street station. The contractor is now working to stabilize train tracks, rebuild the platforms, and complete the new entrances -- work that should enable the station’s northbound platform to open at the end of 2009. The southbound platform’s reopening will depend on adjacent World Trade Center construction.
MTA spokesman William Wheeler, director of special project development and planning, presented the latest news to Community Board 1 (CB1) on March 9th. He said that contractor Skanska Construction has mobilized excavation work, in preparation for sub-grade construction to tie the A/C mezzanine to the 4/5 platforms and Dey Street Concourse. Later this year, the concrete foundation slab will be poured at the site and Corbin Building underpinning will begin.
Alongside Program Executive Uday Durg, Wheeler reiterated that the multifaceted transit-center construction program was divided into multiple contracts, several of which have already been completed. They include the new entrances and stairways at the 2/3 Fulton Street station, new entrances to the 4/5 platforms, and the structural box of the Dey concourse.
One of the biggest remaining contracts is the A/C mezzanine package, which the MTA plans to award in coming months. That project will eliminate the “switchback” ramps that often confuse riders transferring between trains, creating open sightlines, and simplify wayfinding.
“It’s going to be a complete metamorphosis than what you see [in the station] today,” said Wheeler, adding that the station will be fully ADA compliant.
Other outstanding contracts will bring the rehabilitation of the 4/5 platforms and erection of the headhouse at Dey and Broadway; fit-out of the Dey concourse; and finally, construction of the main building, as well as the Corbin Building’s restoration.
One important note, according to Wheeler, is that the different components of the new Fulton Street Transit Center will be performed concurrently as the contracts are awarded. Accordingly, the components will open for public use as they are finished.
As for the main building, Wheeler says the design will be as true to the original plans as possible -- though it will be affected by the amount of federal stimulus funding allocated by the state and MTA capital planners.
The new Transit Center budget is expected to be set in coming weeks, after which the revised building plans will be made public. The structure is still planned to include up to 25,000 square feet of retail, “air tempering” fans to help cool the station, and use of as much natural light as possible.
The MTA was unable to share specific dates with CB1, but there will be a “continuous stream of activity,” said Wheeler. “Once the stimulus resources are tied down…that will help us firm up the dates for the rest of the project.”
The presentation concluded with a brief update about South Ferry, which will open to the public next week. Riders of the 1 train will no longer have to be in the first five cars to exit, and can use any of the three entrances, all with new escalators, for improved access as well as paid or unpaid transfers to the R/W Whitehall Street station.
Peter Minuit Plaza landscaping will complete the new terminal, and is being coordinated with both the city Parks Department and Department of Transportation, which is helping create the new bus loop. The plaza work is expected to begin this spring and continue through late 2009.
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