A contract to bring full accessibility to a major station complex and an additional station in the Bronx has been approved by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board.
Officials are bundling the projects and taking advantage of lower ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic to shorten the construction schedule and lower costs. The projects will bring elevators and other ADA features to the 149 St-Grand Concourse complex on the 2, 4, 5 lines and the Tremont Av station on the B, D line in the Bronx.
“This contract reflects our commitment to ADA and to making our system more accessible as quickly as possible,” said MTA Construction and Development President Janno Lieber. “We’re taking advantage of synergies between the two projects, and the current lower ridership, to deliver these projects faster and cheaper – a win-win for the MTA and our customers.”
“Making this station complex and station accessible brings us closer to our immediate goal of ensuring that no one is ever more than two stops away from an accessible subway station,” said Alex Elegudin, NYC Transit senior advisor for Systemwide Accessibility. “The 149 St-Grand Concourse project will be particularly helpful for the many students of nearby Hostos Community College. The MTA is working hard to expand accessibility and these projects are a huge step in that direction.”
The projects will feature design-build services in order to draw from innovation, enhance efficiency and minimize duration, cost and disruption to customers, and will include:
- At 149 St-Grand Concourse, a three-stop elevator connecting the street, upper platform and lower mezzanine, as well as two elevators connecting the upper platform, lower mezzanine and lower platform.
- At Tremont Av, one street-to-mezzanine elevator and two mezzanine-to-platform elevators.
- Reconstruction of stairs to current ADA standards.
Construction on both projects is expected to begin in approximately three months after a preliminary design stage. MTA says the Tremont Av project is expected to take 24 months and the 149 St-Grand Concourse project is expected to take 35 months. The stations are expected to remain open during the project. The MTA says it was able to negotiate for a shortened construction schedule and a favorable price by moving the work forward while ridership is down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $93.2-million contract will be awarded to Tully Construction Company, Inc., and includes an early completion incentive for reductions to the project duration and liquidated damages for extended durations resulting from contractor delays.
Work schedules and service plans will be determined and announced after a preliminary planning stage. The MTA says it will work closely with the contractor and local community to minimize disruption to customers and neighbors.
