Completion, Cost Revised For East Side Access Project
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Completion of the long-awaited project to link the Long Island Rail Road into Grand Central Terminal may now be 2023 and cost $10.7 billion.
The new estimates were presented to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday.
Completion, Cost Revised For East Side Access Project
In 2006, the agency estimated the East Side Access project could be finished by the end of 2013 at a cost of $6.3 billon.
LINK: More On East Side Access From The MTA
The MTA now predicts the project could be finished in 2020 or 2021 for $9.7 billion.
But forecasts by independent consultants suggest completion between 2021 and 2023. The Federal Transit Administration cost estimate is $10.7 billion.
Mark Epstein, chairman of the LIRR Commuter Council, said riders don't know what to believe.
"You promise, you promise and you don't come through," he told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera. "The railroad has a situation about 'watch the gap.' Well the gap that riders need to watch right now is the MTA's credibility gap."
The new East River tunnel will allow LIRR trains access to Grand Central. All LIRR trains now go to Penn Station.
Check Out These Other Stories From CBSNewYork.com:
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
