East Side Access brochure

2008·10.2 MB·English

by  Metropolitan Transportation Authority

East Side Access
MTA LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD’S CONNECTION TO GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL
need benefits
the the
T E
heNewYorkmetropolitanregionishometothe astSideAccessprovidesasolution.Theprojectwill
nation’smostextensive—andmosttraveled—rail addmuch-neededtunnelcapacityacrosstheEast
transitnetwork,servingapproximately6millionriders River,shortentraveltimeforthousandsofLong
perday.TheLongIslandRailRoad(LIRR)aloneisthe IslandcommutersheadedforManhattan’sEastSide,
largestsuburbancommuterrailroadinthecountry,carry- and,bydivertinghalfofLIRR’sriderstoGrandCentral
ing272,000passengersevery24hourson718trains. Terminal,easethecrowdingatPennStation.Additional
Themetropolitanregion’srailnetworkisnowoperating growthatPennStationwillalsothenbepossible.
atornearcapacity.Thenetworkdoesnotprovidefull
intermodalandregionalconnectivity.Asaresult,millions Throughthisredistributionofridership,EastSideAccess
oftravelersaredelayedbyindirectroutingand/orby willhavearippleeffectontheregion’stransportation
overcrowdingthataddstimeandinconvenienceto network,itseconomyanditsqualityoflife.Dramatically
theircommutes. improvingconditionsthroughouttheLIRRnetworkand
atPennStation,EastSideAccesswillcreatenewtrans-
Today,230,000ofLIRR’sdailyridersusePennStation. portationcapacitythatisessentialforregionalgrowth,
Ofthose,nearly50percentmusttakeanotherformof willsupporttheeconomicvitalityoftheGrandCentral
transportationorwalkagooddistancetoreachtheirjobs area,andalsowillhelpreduceautotraveland
onManhattan’sEastSide.Inaddition,theLIRRtrains associatedpollution.
usingPennStationsharetheterminalwithAmtrakand
NJTRANSITtrains.Alreadyatornearitsservicelimits, The project will stimulate regional growth and
PennStationwillbehardpressedtoaccommodatemore development through:
servicefromeachrailline—servicethatisnecessaryto (cid:2) Nearly50percentmorerailcapacityintoManhattan
addressfutureridershipgrowthfromthroughoutthe fromLongIslandandQueens,savingEastSide-bound
NewYorkmetropolitanregion. commuters30to40minutesperday
(cid:2) Lessurbansprawl,asaresultofjobandincomegrowth
intheareaaroundGrandCentralTerminal
(cid:2) SupportofthegrowingLongIslandCityandJamaica,
Queensbusinessdistrictsthroughanewstationat
SunnysideandaconnectiontoAirTrainatJamaica
(cid:2) MoreopportunityforNYCresidentstogettojobson
LongIslandbyreversecommuting
(cid:2) BetterconditionsatPennStationthrough
congestionrelief
(cid:2) EasytransfersatGrandCentralTerminalbetween
LongIslandandMetro-NorthdestinationsintheBronx,
Westchester,HudsonValleyandConnecticut
(cid:2) Fulluseoftheexisting63rdStreetTunnelforthe
firsttime
(cid:2) Reductioninautotravelbymorethan500,000miles
perdayanddecreaseinassociatedairpollution
(cid:2) Reductionofabouttwolanesoftrafficduringpeak
hoursontheEastRiverbridgesandtunnel
(cid:2) Thousandsofnewjobsinconstructionandrelated
industriesinNewYork
(cid:2) DirectintermodalconnectionstoNYCTsubways
project
a look at the
Queensalignment.Twotunnelsbeginningattheendofthe
existing63rdStreetTunnelwillfanouttofourtunnelscross-
ingunderAmtrak’sSunnysideYardinQueens.Theywillrise
tograde,meetingLIRRMainLineandPortWashington
tracksattheirconnectionsinHaroldInterlocking,thebusiest
railroadinterchangeinthecountry.Tunnelswillalsoconnect
tothelooptracksaroundSunnysideYard.Locatedlargelyin
softground,thetunnelswillbebuiltusingbothcut-and-cover
constructionandsoft-groundtunnelboringmachines.
The Route
EastSideAccesswillroutetheLIRRthroughnewtrack
connectionsinQueens,newtunnelsunderSunnysideYard,
andthroughtheexisting63rdStreetTunnelundertheEast
RivertoSecondAvenueinManhattan,wherenewtunnels
willcurvesouthunderParkAvenueandenteranewLIRR
terminalbeneathGrandCentralTerminal(GCT).
63rdStreetTunnel.Builtinthe1960s,thetwo-level
The Principal Components 63rdStreetTunnelundertheEastRiverbetweenQueensand
EastSideAccessisamassiveproject—thelargestever ManhattanisusedontheupperlevelbyNYCTsubways;
undertakenbytheMetropolitanTransportationAuthority. thetwotracksonthelowerlevel,reservedfortheLIRR
Eachcomponentbyitselfwouldbeamajorundertaking. connectiontoGrandCentral,willconnectthenewtunnels
TheseincludetunnelingdeepunderManhattan’sEastSide, inQueensandManhattan.
tunnelingthroughsoftgroundinQueens,connectingtothe
complexofcrossoversandswitchesatHaroldInterlocking Manhattanalignment.Newtunnelswillextendfromthe
inQueensandcreatinganewterminalbelowGCT.East westernendofthe63rdStreetTunnelatSecondAvenuetothe
SideAccesscombinesallofthesecomponentsandmore, newLIRRterminaldeepunderGCT.Thetunnelswillcurve
andwillbeconstructedinanurbanareadenseinpopula- southunderParkAvenueat61stStreet,passbelowthe60th
tion,buildings,infrastructureandraillineswhilecausing StreettunnelsoftheNandRsubway,andremainbelowthe
minimaldisruptiontodailylifeandrailroadoperations. 53rdStreetEsubwayastheyapproachGCT.TheManhattan
tunnelswillbeboredandminedthroughsolidrock.
NewLIRRterminalatGCT.LocatedbelowGrandCentral
Terminal,awelcomingnewLIRRfacilitywillprovidepassen-
gerswithapremiumtravelexperience.Arrivingononeof
eighttracksonfourplatforms,passengerswillmovetoa
spacious,brightlylitmezzanine,whereconvenientescalators
andelevatorswilltakethemtoa
newLIRRconcoursethatechoes
theambienceandpaletteofGCT.
Fromthere,passengerswillexit
tothestreet,eitherthroughGCT
anditsexistingentrancesor
throughnewoff-streetentrances
thatwillbebuilt.
coordinated
construction
A
complexundertakingrequiringconstructionat
numeroussites,oftensimultaneously,EastSideAccess
isbeingcarefullycoordinatedtoachievemaximum
efficiencyandminimaldisruptionthroughoutitsconstruc-
tion.TheoverallEastSideAccessconstructionstrategyis
asfollows:
(cid:2) Excavationoftheexistingbellmouthstructurein
Queens,providingaccesstothelowerlevelofthe
63rdStreetTunnel
(cid:2) Open-cutandboredtunnelexcavationstoprovide
connectionofthe63rdStreetTunneltotheLIRR
tracksinQueens
(cid:2) Miningoutoftwodeephard-rocktunnelsfromthe
Manhattanendofthe63rdStreetTunneltoGCT
(cid:2) MiningoutoftheLIRRterminaldeepintherock
underGCT
(TBMs)willdrillthroughover30,000feetofrock,from
63rdStreetandSecondAvenueallthewayto38thStreet,
Special Construction Techniques
creatingtherunningtunnels.Forthelargecavernscompris-
BuildingmajortunnelsinManhattanandQueens—
ingtheLIRRfacilitybeneathGrandCentralTerminal,the
totalingmorethansevenmiles—requirestwoverydifferent
constructionteam,workingfromtheTBM-minedtunnels,
methodsofconstruction.InManhattan,thesubsurface
willuseconventionalminingtechniquestoexcavateeach
conditionissolidrock.Largetunnelboringmachines
ofthetworockcaverns.
InQueens,thewesternportionofthetunnelswillbeexca-
vatedusingthecut-and-covermethod,buttheremaining
tunneling,suchasunderSunnysideYard,mustbeaccom-
plishedwithminimalsurfaceimpacttoavoiddisrupting
LIRRandAmtrakoperations.Thesubsurfaceconditions,
whicharemostlysoftgroundwithahighwatertable,
requirespecialsoft-groundTBMsthatcanborethrough
thegroundwhilesupportingthetunnelfaceandbalancing
thewaterpressure,thuscontrollingthewaterandsoil
duringconstruction.
Tominimizepotentialcommunityimpacts,themajority
oftunnelingmaterialexcavatedinManhattanwillbe
removedthroughtheexisting63rdStreetTunnel.
history
the of the East Side Access Project
A New York Story
T
heLongIslandRailRoad(LIRR)—thenation’s allowingLIRRtrainstousethe63rdStreetTunnel
oldestrailroadstilloperatingunderitsoriginal ontheirwaytoanewterminalatGrandCentral
name—openedin1834and,parallelingthe Terminal(GCT).InOctober1998,ateamwas
populationgrowthofLongIsland,expandedtomeet assembledtobegintheenvironmentalandplanning
theneedsofManhattan-boundcommuters,reaching work.Theteam’seffortsculminatedin2001withthe
PennStationanditscurrentconfigurationin1910. FederalTransitAdministration’s(FTA)approvalof
FollowingyearsofserviceintoPennStation,the theproject’sFinalEnvironmentalImpactStatement
railroadbegantoconsiderfurtherexpansionto andissuanceofaRecordofDecision,allowingthe
Manhattan’sEastSideinthe1960s,whenchanging projecttomoveforward.
commutingpatternsfromLongIslandandeastern ConstructionfortheLIRREastSideAccess
Queensindicatedthattheareawasthedestination ProjectbeganinSeptember2001.InSummer2006,
foragrowingnumberofriders. twomajorcontractswereawarded,markingthestart
PlanningforanewEastSideLIRRterminal oftunnelingconstructioninbothManhattanand
beganwhentheMTA’spredecessor,theMetropolitan Queens.Thisearlyworkwasessentialtoprovide
CommuterTransportationAuthority,tookover storageandmaintenancefacilitiessothatmajor
operationsoftherailroadin1966.Ataboutthe constructioncouldproceedwithminimalimpact
sametime,in1965inresponsetoalongrecognized totheoperatingrailroads.OnDecember16,2006,
need,theNewYorkCityTransitAuthorityembarked FTAexecuteda$2.6billionFullFundingGrant
onconstructionofanewjoint-use,two-leveltunnel AgreementwiththeMTAfortheEastSideAccess
undertheEastRiverat63rdStreet.Theupperlevel project,makingthisthelargestfederaltransitgrant
providedaQueens-Manhattanlinkforsubway toanysingletransportationprojectinhistory.
trains;thelowerlevelwasreservedfortheLIRR, Theprojecthasmovedforwardsteadily,through
foraroutetoaneventualEastSideterminal. awell-planned,step-by-stepprocesswithout
Followingaseriesofplansandstudiesoverthe disruptiontorailoperationsandwithminimal
nextthreedecades,thedecisionwasmadein1998 impacttothesurroundingcommunities.
tobuildwhatisnowtheEastSideAccessproject,
East Side Access
keyfacts about
World-Class Statistics Schedule and Funding
Anew8-track terminal atGCT, thefirstmajorrail station TheESA projectisontrack for completionin2015.
inManhattaninover90 years andthelargestmined
FundingcomesfromtheMTA’sCapital Programand
undergroundterminal everbuiltintheU.S.
FederalTransitAdministrationgrants.
Largestpassengerrail terminal builtintheU.S. since
thelate1930s
For more information contact:
7 miles of tunnels along3.5 routemiles
MTACapital Construction
24 miles of newtrack LIRR EastSideAccess Project
469 SeventhAvenue
1.225 millioncubic yards of excavatedsoil androck
NewYork, NY10018
390,000 cubic yards of pouredconcrete Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
60,000 tons of reinforcingsteel
Website: www.mta.info/capconstr/esas/
350,000 squarefeetof newpassengerconcourseand
servicespacewithinGCT MTACapital Construction
Dr. Michael Horodniceanu
President
MTALongIslandRail Road
HelenaE. Williams
President
Stateof NewYork
DavidA. Paterson
Governor
MetropolitanTransportationAuthority
H. DaleHemmerdinger
Chairman
Jay Walder
ExecutiveDirectorandCEO