New York Pushes Ahead on $121M Transportation Upgrades

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New York is putting $121 million into the modernization of two key transportation hubs on Long Island. Funding will go into improvements for the Hicksville station, the busiest transit station on the island. Additional funding will go to a $64.9 million contract to create a new platform and tracks at the Jamaica station, the LIRR’s central hub and main transfer point.

The new platform and tracks at Jamaica station will allow the LIRR to more easily re-route trains, take tracks out of service and support supplemental train service to and from Atlantic Terminal.

“More tracks and platforms mean fewer delays. This award for Phase I of the project, which is funded by the Capital Plan, is great news,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast of the funding award.

The project is one element of the Jamaica Capacity Improvements Project which will modernize Jamaica Station infrastructure, which was built in 1913. The work will update track configurations which have remained largely unchanged since the station was built. The project began in 2010 and is being carried out in two phases with a projected investment of $442 million by the end of 2019. Funding for Phase I of the project comes from a combination of the MTA’s 2010-2014 capital plan and the 2015-2019 plan.

The new platform is slated to open in 2019 and will bring additional uninterrupted service lines to ease congestion.

For the upgrades at Hicksville, the MTA will be updating the 55-year-old station to include new waiting areas, USB charging stations and Wi-fi. The upgrades are expected to be completed over the next 13 months, slightly ahead of the original estimate of 22 months. The project is supported by the MTA Capital Program.