Andrew Cuomo announced the good news to Long Island passengers who travel to Manhattan every day to work, study, or have fun: The 'East Side Access' project, planned since the 1960s, that will make it possible for Long Island Rail Road trains to have access to the Grand Central terminal, on the East side of Manhattan, facilitating mobility for thousands of people and increasing the passenger capacity of the inter-municipal public transport system.
The governor announced after taking a tour of Grand Central, calling the new construction a historic move, being the largest expansion of the Long Island Rail Road in 100 years, an MTA megaproject that will connect the Long Island Rail Road with a new 350,000-square-foot terminal under Grand Central.
"East Side Access is one of the largest transportation projects in North America, a bold $ 11 billion idea that changes the entire regional transportation system," Cuomo said in his press conference.
“Thanks to the hard work of so many people, major construction on this transformative project is now complete and we are proud to announce that East Side Access will open next year, significantly reducing travel times and making the commute to Manhattan easier for countless travelers. ”.
The goal will be basically to alleviate the massive congestion at Pen Station and alleviate the inconvenience of long island commuters trying to reach the East Side.
What will change?
The project will mean LIRR capacity in Manhattan will be doubled and lower the capacity of the already overburdened train lines that go into Penn Station, allowing better access for other trains that come into Penn Station, such as Amtrak and NJ Transit, according to Lohud.
And it also provides backup capacity for Long Island commuters, rather than relying solely on trains coming in and out of Penn, transit officials said.
The Governor emphasized that the completion of this project will greatly impact the economy and the revitalization of New York. "It will serve as yet another example of what New Yorkers can do when we set our minds to something," Cuomo said.
Regarding the project, both Cuomo and Lieber noted that it will be 350,000 feet, it will be below street level, having new entrances along Madison Avenue, 25 retail stores, WiFi and access to cellular service, new art installations and signage. digital with train information in real time.
The plan calls for the Madison Avenue entrance being built on 45th Street in the midst of remodeling the old MTA headquarters to serve about 10,000 people a day.
The project, considered one of the most delayed since the beginning of its planning, according to the Governor's Office, was conceived in the 1960s, was developed in the 1990s and work began in earnest in Queens and Manhattan in 2006.