Cause of Latest 2nd Ave Subway Delays: Plumbing

Lest you think the presence of giant Tunnel Boring Machines is a sign that the Sisyphean Second Avenue subway project is making great progress, the Times is here to report that underground utilities, "including water pipes, gas lines, fuel tanks and electrical wires, are to blame for at least six months of delays and more than $130 million" in overruns. "What due diligence didn’t happen that we are having these cost overruns?" Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer rhetorically wants to know! The project is nearly $1 billion over the last estimate in 2007, when federal financing is secured. It's ultimately expected to cost $4.98 billion—and that's just phase one! Still, it's a small price to pay to avoid having to walk over to Lexington Avenue to catch a train.

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By John Del Signore in News on September 9, 2010 5:54 PM

Comments [rss]

Tower18

I know you're joking, but the Second Avenue Subway isn't being built because the Lexington Ave line is "too far" or "inconvenient." It's being built because it's well over capacity, occasionally dangerously so.

With how crowded the 1 and 2 trains are (the 3 is always better due to its shorter uptown length), I can't imagine if the West Side didn't also have the B and C trains picking up everyone Columbus and west.

jamieob256

Was it a surprise that there would be underground utilities, including water pipes, gas lines, fuel tanks and electrical wires?

The Guardrail

This project needed to happen 90 years ago when it was first introduced and I know I am grateful they are finally getting something completed all these years later. The real disappointed is that there aren't better connections to the other burroughs, it is not 4 tracks and there is no express service. The East Side by second avenue is already beginning to go through a transformation, and once the subway opens it is going to grow. This is just going to be another sad story of something becoming under capacity before it even opens.

As for the cost overruns, I guess I expected it - you never know what you are going to find underneath Manhattan - most likely old infrastructure that is difficult to work with and repair. You know, you fix one thing and then another breaks.

http://theguardrailblog.blogspot.com

darkdrseuss

Great choice in picture

melanarchy

Honestly, $5bn to build a subway line under an existing operating city with minimal disruption. I know people on 2nd ave might disagree but this project has involved significantly less disruption than the cut and cover projects of the turn of the century. A single midtown high rise is worth roughly $500m, It seems to me that a new subway line is well worth the cost of 10 buildings. I don't see incompetence in the project I see an amazing underestimate in complexity by the general public and news media.

Politburo

Exactly.

I'd like to know how many construction projects Mr. Stringer has worked on, especially since his proposed solution is to add another layer of bureaucracy...

(The number is zero. He is a career politician from a political family.)

Noreaster76

JDS, you try walking to Lexington from East End every time you need to take the subway, and then get there only to discover that the 6 train is packed solid. I don't think there's any disagreement that the Upper East Side, with its hundreds of thousands of people, needs more transportation capacity. And I don't know if even dedicated bus lanes (forget about non-dedicated bus lanes!) will satisfy the demand. I think the real question here is not whether people should walk an additional two east-west blocks, but why construction projects like these are so expensive and so poorly run.