After some political sparring between New York City and the state, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority”™s $29 billion, five-year capital program for 2015-19 was approved by the authority”™s board.
The budget ”” which covers the costs of construction, expansion and improvement measures for buses, tunnels, bridges and trains in the New York metropolitan area ”” has been fully funded by local, agency, state and federal backing.
The MTA will shoulder the bulk of the cost with $11.8 billion. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo committed $8.3 billion from the state, $2.5 billion will come from New York City and the remaining $6.4 billion is federal money.
Westchester, Rockland and Fairfield counties in New York and Connecticut will mainly be impacted by the transportation authority”™s investment in the Metro-North Railroad. The Metro-North rail lines have become increasingly valuable to the region”™s commuters, particularly in Westchester, where ridership from the city to the county has quadrupled since 1985.
The capital program dedicates $2.3 billion to Metro-North, up from $1.54 billion for the railroad in the amended and approved capital program for 2010-14.
Here are some highlights of how the more than $2 billion will be spent through 2019:
Ӣ $432 million replacement of the more than 100-year-old Harmon Shop in Croton-on-Hudson where electric rail and diesel cars are fixed;
Ӣ $532 million to replace the lineӪs remaining 140 M-3 rail cars, which date to 1984;
Ӣ $250 million for Penn Station Access, which will connect the New Haven Line to Penn Station and add four new stations in the Bronx. Currently, all Metro-North lines in New York City go in and out of only Grand Central Station and 125th Street station in Harlem;
Ӣ $2 million for some of Metro-NorthӪs stations west of the Hudson River, namely Spring Valley, Harriman and Middletown, which require priority capital investments; and
Ӣ $94 million for positive train control installation, which uses GPS and Wi-Fi to remotely slow and stop trains. Positive train control has been mandated for all nonexempt commuter railroads in the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and passed by Congress.
The Capital Program Review Board, made up of voting stakeholders from New York City and the state, will have 30 days from Oct. 28 to veto the plan ”” sans the bridges and tunnels portion, which is paid for entirely by tolls ”” before the transportation authority can begin working on its projects.
