To The Editor:
There is still much more to do after completion of Mayor Bloomberg’s feasibility study for extending the #7 subway train to New Jersey. Future success is dependent upon many issues.
In the past, construction of any major new freight, tunnel or bridge project has taken decades to go from feasibility studies, environmental reviews, plans, designs, engineers, real estate acquisitions, permits, procurements, constructions, budgets and funds prior to opening day service.
Remember that the proposed new subway station to be built at 42nd Street and 10th Avenue had to be deleted from the current #7 subway extension from Times Square to the Javits Convention Center. No one could find $500 million dollars to cover the anticipated costs. The original cost of the overall project was $2.1 billion and is now $2.4 billion not counting the subway station that had to be dropped from the original scope of work. How do we now find $10 billion more for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit #7 subway extension from the Javits Convention Center on the Manhattan west side to New Jersey Transit’s Secaucus Junction station by Exit 15X on the New Jersey Turnpike?
The anticipated final potential cost will not be known until completion. Costs will be refined by award of construction contracts followed by change orders to contracts during the course of construction.
It is difficult to predict when we will see a shovel in the ground, followed years or even decades later by benefits to taxpayers.
Larry Penner
