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No. 7 extension a money train
Call it the money-sucker train.
The already overbudget plan to extend the No. 7 line will get even more expensive Monday, when the MTA board is expected to approve an additional $10 million for design work on the extension of the line into the Far West Side. The environmental impact statement and design work, which began in 2002, has already tripled in cost to $124 million.
“That's a little on the high side,” said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign. “It makes you question the planning.”
The city is picking up the $2.1 billion tab to construct the 7,100-foot tunnel that will ferry the No. 7 to 34th Street and 11th Avenue from its current terminus in Times Square. A mayoral spokesman said the additional costs are within budget.“It's not out of the ordinary, it's covered and this will cost the MTA $0,” said Andrew Brent, a spokesman for the mayor, said in an email.
In its explanation to the board, the MTA states that the 18 additions to the original $41 million contract were necessary because of the “repeated” changes to the project by the city and private developers.
“Coordinating the extension of the 7 line ... is a complicated process where there is a need for flexibility,” MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said.
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