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"Budget for West Side extension of No. 7 train going off track, engineers warn."


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Budget for West Side extension of No. 7 train going off track, engineers warn.

BY Pete Donohue

NY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

 

Wednesday, April 7th 2010

 

 

"The West Side extension of the No. 7 subway line is going over budget, engineers warn, creating another financial headache for the MTA and the city.

 

Construction costs are "trending above" the $2.1 billion price tag set years before tunneling began, says a report from McKissack + Delcan, an engineering firm retained by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

 

The consulting firm hasn't determined the size of the developing deficit, but Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) called the situation a "huge, unresolved mess."

 

"The MTA is looking at a project no one has the money to complete," Brodsky said. "The city's broke. The state's broke. The MTA's broke."

 

The 1.5-mile extension - from Times Square to 34th St. and 11th Ave. - wasn't in the MTA's plans, but was sought by Mayor Bloomberg to spur development. In September 2006, the MTA agreed to build it after City Hall pledged up to $2.1 billion for construction.

 

City and transit officials never signed an agreement fixing responsibility for cost overruns. At the time, some transit advocates and officials feared the MTA would wind up diverting money from more worthwhile projects to the No. 7 line extension.

 

Andrew Brent, a spokesman for Bloomberg, said yesterday, "If it becomes clear at some point that overruns are unavoidable, we'll address how they would be covered then."

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/04/07/2010-04-07_unlucky_7_to_bust_budget_report_says.html#ixzz0kVGg2zbR

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The (7) extension was only needed if the Jets/West Side Stadium was been bulit. Otherwise this is a project imo that should be put on hold and try to finish the SAS and LIRR extension to Grand Central instead at all costs.

 

If you ask me the SAS is the project that can be held off. The East Side is due to get +SBS at the end of the year so that should be a step up for East Side riders in the meantime.

 

The MTA is investing billions of dollars into this project so people can take a subway instead of a bus to work. If the Els were never torn down we probably wouldn't be hearing any of this though....

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If you ask me the SAS is the project that can be held off. The East Side is due to get +SBS at the end of the year so that should be a step up for East Side riders in the meantime.

 

The MTA is investing billions of dollars into this project so people can take a subway instead of a bus to work. If the Els were never torn down we probably wouldn't be hearing any of this though....

What's +SBS ?
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It seems as if the story gets worse every week. Once the city said they wouldn't put a station at 10th Ave and 41st St, I was done supporting the project and I knew that things were not going to go well. If it's not going to help everyone in the areas where this tunnel is going, then there's no point to creating it. Now seeing that the costs are about to be overrun makes it even more of a laugh. The (MTA) is gonna wind up with most of the bill and Gloomburg will point his finger at that (MTA) when the reality is it's just a vanity piece for the mayor. This (7) train extension is one great big mess that I'm starting to think should have never happened.

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If you ask me the SAS is the project that can be held off. The East Side is due to get +SBS at the end of the year so that should be a step up for East Side riders in the meantime.

 

The MTA is investing billions of dollars into this project so people can take a subway instead of a bus to work. If the Els were never torn down we probably wouldn't be hearing any of this though....

 

Line thats been overdue for 80 years (T) > Vanity project that came at the whim of an overzealous mayor (7)

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If you ask me the SAS is the project that can be held off. The East Side is due to get +SBS at the end of the year so that should be a step up for East Side riders in the meantime.

 

With all due respect, you've lost your mind saying something silly like that. The 2nd Ave project is vital and extremely necessary. The Lex Ave line is JAMMED packed and can't take no more than what it's got. I take the (6) everyday and see it for myself everyday. It's really BAD on that line and we need another line over on the East side to help relive the (4)(5) and (6). The SBS project on the M15 is nice and all but we need a subway there, PERIOD. The subway will do more than any bus will do, no matter how many "bow ties" you put on it to make it appear more presentable.

 

The MTA is investing billions of dollars into this project so people can take a subway instead of a bus to work. If the Els were never torn down we probably wouldn't be hearing any of this though....

I agree with you that the El's should have never been torn down and if I had my way, I'd be building El's there instead of a subway but the reality is they aren't doing that. I hope that the (MTA) can get at least the 63rd St - 96th St portion done. Anything over on 2nd Ave is better than nothing and way better and more of a service than that piece of shit (7) train extension.

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Would you take a bus if you had to get to work from lets say 86th street East Side to lets say 23rd street? Nobody would do that. First of all, it's dumb to take a bus that big of a distance, and second of all you'd be fired if you were late everyday. There's no chance of improving service on the Lexington Avenue line, so that's out of the question, and bus service along the East Side isn't fast. That's the reason why the SAS is VITAL. +SBS helps, but what they NEED and is completely NECESSARY is a Second Avenue Subway.

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Would you take a bus if you had to get to work from lets say 86th street East Side to lets say 23rd street? Nobody would do that. First of all, it's dumb to take a bus that big of a distance, and second of all you'd be fired if you were late everyday. There's no chance of improving service on the Lexington Avenue line, so that's out of the question, and bus service along the East Side isn't fast. That's the reason why the SAS is VITAL. +SBS helps, but what they NEED and is completely NECESSARY is a Second Avenue Subway.

IAWTP, but leave earlier if you're always late;)

Welcome to the new 2nd avenue debacle.Its like the 70s again.They probably going to abandon the project and leave it dormant for X amount of years like the 2nd avenue subway.

Except...this time it's even worse, since everyone under the sun is broke.

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The (7) extension was only needed if the Jets/West Side Stadium was been bulit. Otherwise this is a project imo that should be put on hold and try to finish the SAS and LIRR extension to Grand Central instead at all costs.

 

I agree 100%.

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I'm thinking, what else could all that money spent on the (7) West Side extension been used to build?

SAS...ESA...FSTC...

How exactly does the cost rise? Is it because of miscalculations? Can they lock the price?

It's because of lazy contractors who don't do s**t except scratch their a**es and sleep while on the job. However, the (NYCT) gets charged per hour of work (or, should I say, being on the work site).

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If you ask me the SAS is the project that can be held off. The East Side is due to get +SBS at the end of the year so that should be a step up for East Side riders in the meantime.

 

The MTA is investing billions of dollars into this project so people can take a subway instead of a bus to work. If the Els were never torn down we probably wouldn't be hearing any of this though....

 

 

LRG sounds like you dont use the LEX line that often. It crowded 7 days a week 365 days a year.

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this is 1 of those times where the mta should not chip in let bloomberg finish the payments becuase it was his idea to extend the (7) and now (MTA) Go finish the SAS and ESA and FSTC. just look how long it took to build the newer south ferry station with over cost to the (MTA).

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Would you take a bus if you had to get to work from lets say 86th street East Side to lets say 23rd street? Nobody would do that. First of all, it's dumb to take a bus that big of a distance, and second of all you'd be fired if you were late everyday. There's no chance of improving service on the Lexington Avenue line, so that's out of the question, and bus service along the East Side isn't fast. That's the reason why the SAS is VITAL. +SBS helps, but what they NEED and is completely NECESSARY is a Second Avenue Subway.

SBS is not that bad. On the M15, they are going to have bus lanes and buses that change traffic lights in their favor. If you got on the SBS which would make stops every 10 blocks you'd really be there in no time. However, the SBS does nothing for the passengers who transfer to the Lex lines, where a bus is of no use to them.

How exactly does the cost rise? Is it because of miscalculations? Can they lock the price?

Inflation. Steel and other construction material costs rose 91% back in 2007 or 2008, according to an article I read on the Fulton St. Transit Center back a couple of years ago. That's the reason the FSTC is 7 years and 100% over budget ($750 million ->$1.4-1.5 billion). The same applies to the other transit construction projects taking place in the city.

It's because of lazy contractors who don't do s**t except scratch their a**es and sleep while on the job. However, the (NYCT) gets charged per hour of work (or, should I say, being on the work site).

That's an overgeneralization and a false one at that. Workers can't do that much work if there's not much work to be done with guaranteed funding behind it. The SAS and ESA projects are not fully funded yet, which is why it's taking so long for them to finish it.

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With all due respect, you've lost your mind saying something silly like that. The 2nd Ave project is vital and extremely necessary. The Lex Ave line is JAMMED packed and can't take no more than what it's got. I take the (6) everyday and see it for myself everyday. It's really BAD on that line and we need another line over on the East side to help relive the (4)(5) and (6). The SBS project on the M15 is nice and all but we need a subway there, PERIOD. The subway will do more than any bus will do, no matter how many "bow ties" you put on it to make it appear more presentable.

 

How? Because the MTA is so freaking overzealous with their one-sided mentality??? The SAS is something that should have been finished YEARS ago! I could care less if the SAS is ever completer because from the looks of it, it'll be pushed further back, and back...and back, all the way to the end of time.

 

I agree with you that the El's should have never been torn down and if I had my way, I'd be building El's there instead of a subway but the reality is they aren't doing that. I hope that the (MTA) can get at least the 63rd St - 96th St portion done. Anything over on 2nd Ave is better than nothing and way better and more of a service than that piece of shit (7) train extension.

 

How can the (7) extension be a POS when it's serving a means to give people the option to get across Midtown from one side to another, not to mention, a few stations along the West Side of Manhattan as well? If you ask me, West Side workers and residents equally deserve a subway line/extension as much as the East Siders who want the SAS. Either way if the transportation sucks so much that you can't deal with it then you shouldn't be there.

 

That's my effed up 2 cents.

 

LRG sounds like you dont use the LEX line that often. It crowded 7 days a week 365 days a year.

 

False; I use the Lexington Avenue Line quite often and I do understand it's crowded.

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