MANHATTAN- Work on the $8.7 billion ARC Mass Transit Tunnel has been cleared to start in Manhattan later this year, following approval today of the project’s land use plan by the New York City Council.
Council members voted unanimously 47-0 to approve the massive passenger rail project’s special permit application under the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). The council’s vote will allow tunnel work to be ongoing on both sides of the Hudson River by year’s end. In June, ground was broken in New Jersey to start the project near Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen. Overall, the project will create approximately 6,000 construction-related jobs annually.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and its partner, NJ Transit, are working to complete the tunnel by 2017. The Port Authority has committed $3 billion to the project.
Agency officials voluntarily submitted the project for review by city representatives under the land-use process, seeking to encourage public participation and community support for the initiative. Today’s vote was the culmination of an extensive process to work with the City Planning Commission, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, city community boards and other local stakeholders on the project’s design and plans.
On the drawing board for decades, the ARC Mass Transit Tunnel will double commuter capacity between the Garden State and Midtown Manhattan, allowing a maximum of 48 trains per hour compared to 23 now through the existing, 100-year-old, two-track tunnel. The project is designed to help keep the region economically competitive during the 21st Century.
The work in Manhattan will include an expansion of Penn Station under 34th Street and provide underground connections for the first time to the Sixth Avenue subway lines.
Council members voted unanimously 47-0 to approve the massive passenger rail project’s special permit application under the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). The council’s vote will allow tunnel work to be ongoing on both sides of the Hudson River by year’s end. In June, ground was broken in New Jersey to start the project near Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen. Overall, the project will create approximately 6,000 construction-related jobs annually.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and its partner, NJ Transit, are working to complete the tunnel by 2017. The Port Authority has committed $3 billion to the project.
Agency officials voluntarily submitted the project for review by city representatives under the land-use process, seeking to encourage public participation and community support for the initiative. Today’s vote was the culmination of an extensive process to work with the City Planning Commission, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, city community boards and other local stakeholders on the project’s design and plans.
On the drawing board for decades, the ARC Mass Transit Tunnel will double commuter capacity between the Garden State and Midtown Manhattan, allowing a maximum of 48 trains per hour compared to 23 now through the existing, 100-year-old, two-track tunnel. The project is designed to help keep the region economically competitive during the 21st Century.
The work in Manhattan will include an expansion of Penn Station under 34th Street and provide underground connections for the first time to the Sixth Avenue subway lines.
