To the Editor,
Will Amtrak have sufficient track outages and force account support (Amtrak employees) to meet the promised 2027 completion date outlined in “Schumer, Gillibrand announces $1.6B for Penn Access mega project?”
The project costs have already grown from $600 million 20 years ago to $3.1 billion prior to last year’s construction contract award. This price tag does not include the cost for borrowing hidden under the MTA operating agency budget to help project financing. Borrowing, contract change orders due to unforeseen site conditions, Amtrak providing insufficient track outages for contractor access to the work site and requests by operations or maintenance groups for additional work could result in added costs. The final price tag might grow beyond $3.1 billion. It will remain an unknown until 100% of all the contract’s requirements are complete, final contract retainage is paid to all contractors and MTA makes public the cost of borrowing that supports the project’s financing.
The same Amtrak resources are also committed to other projects along the Northeast Corridor, between Washington, D.C., and Boston for years to come. Three of these in the Metro New York area include the $1.6 billion New Jersey Northeast Corridor Portal Bridge, the $1.6 East River Tunnel and $16.8 billion Gateway Tunnel Hudson River Phase One. This does not include ongoing routine maintenance at Penn Station Newark, Penn Station New York, Hudson and East River tunnels, the $2 billion Maryland Susquehanna River Bridge, the $4.7 billion 1.4-mile Baltimore Potomac Tunnel, the $827 million Connecticut River Bridge, as well as other stations, tracks, bridges, tunnels and facilities along the corridor.
How can Amtrak provide enough employees to work on these projects while supporting work on the Metro-North East Bronx Penn Station Access project all at the same time? Residents, commuters, potential future riders, taxpayers, local community planning board members and public officials need to see a detailed project budget and construction schedule to monitor progress for this promised capital improvement. This would meet transparency promised by Gov. Kathy Hochul and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber under their respective watch.
Larry Penner
For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
