Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today hailed the inclusion of $123,384,621 for the Second Avenue Subway and $215,000,000 for the East Side Access project connecting Long Island Railroad to Grand Central Terminal in the House Transportation, Housing & Urban Development (THUD) appropriation proposed for Fiscal Year 2013, which was presented to the House Appropriations Committee today. Both figures reflect the amounts requested for each project by the Obama administration in its proposed FY '13 budget.
"I am gratified that the Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access, the two largest mass transit initiatives under construction anywhere in the country, are receiving merit-based, bipartisan support from the House of Representatives," said Congresswoman Maloney, whose district includes both projects. I am particularly proud that this appropriation would be the final installment of the federal government's commitment to the first phase of the project that I have worked my entire congressional career to achieve," she said.
"I would like to thank my colleagues on both sides of the House aisle, like Tom Latham (R-IA) and John Olver (D-MA), Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the House Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee, as well as my fellow Members of the New York delegation, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Peter King (R-NY), for their leadership on behalf of these important infrastructure projects that will bring enormous economic benefits to our nation's largest metropolitan region," said Representative Maloney.
Today's proposed appropriation of $123,384,621 for the Second Avenue Subway represents the final funding of the federal government's overall $1.3 billion support for the project under a full funding grant agreement signed in November 2007. This will be the first new subway line built in New York City in more than half a century, adding capacity to a system that is extremely overcrowded.
"The Second Avenue Subway is a great example of how investing in our infrastructure can generate economic growth. It's estimated that, on Day One of its operation, the new subway will transport more than 200,000 riders. And projects like East Side Access and the Second Avenue Subway are generating tens of thousands of good-paying construction jobs and creating billions of dollars in economic activity at a time when we're still emerging from an economic downturn," said Congresswoman Maloney.
Background:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) completed all the tunneling required for the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway in September 2011, when a tunnel-boring machine excavating the last of the project's two tunnels broke through to the existing tunnel at the Lexington Avenue/63rd Street station. The MTA will still have to complete station entrances, ancillary buildings, and track preparation. The MTA projects that the subway's first phase will be completed in December 2016.
The full-length Second Avenue Subway will be an 8 ½ mile, two-track line beginning at 125th street and ending in Hanover Square in lower Manhattan. The subway's first segment will include stops at 96th, 86th and 72nd Streets, and tunnels from 99th to 62nd Streets. At 63rd Street, the new subway line will link onto the existing Q-line tracks, providing a one-seat ride from the Upper East Side to Times Square, Wall Street, and Brooklyn. Construction of the full-length subway has been divided into four phases. Once completed, the first subway phase will carry more than 213,000 riders each day and relieve massive congestion on the most overcrowded subway routes in the nation: the 4, 5, and 6 Lexington Avenue IRT trains on Manhattan's East Side.
Yesterday, the Federal Transit Administration delivered more than $197 million to the MTA for the Second Avenue Subway from the FY 2012 appropriation.
Full-funding Grant Agreements (FFGA) are commitments by the federal government to provide a total amount of funding, delivered in installments, over the life of a project.
An FFGA defines the project, including cost, scope, and schedule; commits to a maximum level of New Starts or Small Starts financial assistance subject to appropriation); establishes the terms and conditions of Federal financial participation; defines the period of time for completion of the project; and helps federal government and local government agencies, like the MTA, manage the project in accordance with Federal law.