The MTA marked a key milestone in its Park Avenue Viaduct repair and replacement project for Metro-North on Monday.
MTA officials announced at an Oct. 6 press conference the last of the project’s Phase 1 bridge installations since the work began in 2023. The $590 million Phase 1, scheduled for completion next year, is the first of two phases to reconstruct or replace portions of the 132-year-old viaduct in East Harlem that carries Metro-North commuter trains.
“For the last 100 years, it’s been falling apart,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. “This is a story about what we’re dealing with in the MTA capital program. In this viaduct, there are structural elements that were put there, maybe by Cornelius Vanderbilt himself, back in the 1890s.”
The viaduct, also known as a bridge with multiple spans, is considered the backbone of the Metro-North Railroad. The elevated steel structure runs nearly two miles from the entrance of the Park Avenue tunnel at 97th Street to the Harlem River, carrying around 750 trains on a typical weekday.
But, it has been falling apart, MTA officials said.
Repairs and replacements are necessary to ensure the viaduct remains in good condition and continues to serve the community. Improvements so far include the replacement of 128 bridge spans that connect tracks, column to column; the addition of 12,800 feet of new aluminum third-rail; and the addition of 6,500 feet of signal cables, 25,000 feet of new running rail, and over 40,000 feet of new communication cables.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose office runs the MTA, said riders will benefit from the project with more reliable rides for decades to come.
“Completing work on an elevated structure that dates back to the Gilded Age ahead of schedule and under budget shows what’s possible when we modernize our infrastructure and put riders first,” she said.
Jamie Torres-Springer, president of MTA construction and development, said the work was completed without any service interruptions to the Metro-North system. He said workers also added safety features that were not included during the viaduct’s initial construction a century ago.
These include walkways for maintenance workers and an increase in vertical clearance at intersections over roadways to reduce bridge strikes that happen when trucks try to pass under the viaduct.
“This is one of the most complex and high-stakes state-of-good-repair projects currently underway,” Torres-Springer said. “And of course, Janno said it, we know it’s very important to Metro-North service.”
Other project improvements include a reduction in noise and vibration levels and a permanent art installation at 116th Street.
Around $500 million for the project was federally funded.
The complex project is halfway through completion, which the MTA said is scheduled for 2027.
