The Metropolitan Transportation Authority crossed the river on July 16 hundreds of feet underground and came one step closer to the completion of the East Side Access line.
“We’re literally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on completing East Side Access, the largest mass transit project under construction anywhere in the country,” Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens) said.
A new piece of the Long Island Rail Road will bring Queens riders to Grand Central Terminal from a new stop at Queens Boulevard and Skillman Avenue in Sunnyside.
Once finished, the ESA line will add nearly 50 percent more rail capacity into Manhattan from Queens, saving East Side-bound commuters 30 to 40 minutes daily, according to the MTA. Riders of the ESA from Sunnyside to Midtown will enjoy a one-stop trip.
However, although the MTA made strides last week by driving its tunelling machine “Molina” to Long Island City, the MTA still has quite a bit more work ahead of it. The project is slated for completion in 2019.
The project was funded on Dec. 16, 2006, when the MTA and the Federal Transit Administration signed a full funding grant agreement to provide $2.6 billion of the project’s cost, currently estimated at $7.3 billion.
The project generated 22,000 jobs and $1.2 billion in wages and $4 billion in total economic activity, Maloney said.
According to the MTA, the new line will help alleviate crowding on subway lines that use Penn Station and the 7 train. The LIRR, which operates at or near capacity, was until recently the largest suburban commuter railroad in the country, transporting 272,000 passengers on more than 700 trains every 24 hours. It was surpassed only last year by Metro North, the MTA rail line that runs upstate and into Connecticut.
