As major transportation players in New York and New Jersey were among the major regional infrastructure owners addressing upcoming work plans and project delivery issues at ENR’s NY/NJ Infrastructure Forum on Sept. 14, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority moved to procure the fourth and final construction contract for its Phase 2 extension of the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan, the package largest works to date.
After the request for qualifications, the agency plans to issue a request for proposals to qualified contractors by the end of the year, select a contractor in mid-2027 and begin work in 2027. The MTA budgets Phase 2 at about $6.97 billion and expects it to be completed in the fall of 2032.
Contract 4 covers the equipment and finishing of the systems of the three new stations and the connecting sections of the tunnel. The works include station platforms and entrance canopies, six above-ground ancillary buildings, mechanical and electrical systems, 22 lifts and 20 escalators, communications and security systems, track, third rail, traction power, signal and communications-based train control infrastructure, architectural finishes and site restoration.
The package also includes testing, integration and commissioning of the installed systems, along with a connection from the new 125th Street station to the Lexington Avenue 4/5/6 station. A Park Avenue entrance will provide access near Metro-North’s Harlem-125th Street station.
The RFQ came out as part of a two-step procurement process for which the MTA sought board approval, said Matthew Zettwoch, program executive and vice president, speaking at the forum. The RFP will be released later this year.
“I’m not just talking about best value, which is just cost and schedule,” he said. “It goes beyond that. It’s minimizing our impact on communities.” He noted that the best-value process for the design-bid-build contract aims to “install finishes that can be maintained, mechanical systems that our users want to inherit and own, canopied entrances that stay clean, accessory buildings with integrated traffic-oriented development, four miles of track and easy-to-maintain systems, and communication-based train control will increase from 57th Street to 57th Street. by approximately seven minutes to three and move 30 trains per hour”.
A rendering depicts the future 106th Street station planned as part of Phase 2 of the New York Second Avenue subway expansion. The MTA recently awarded a $1.02 billion design-build contract to a Skanska-Traylor Bros.-Walsh Construction joint venture to build the station shell and related underground infrastructure.
Representation courtesy of MTA
He noted that Phase 2 of the metro is an all-hands-on-deck effort. “We’re leveraging all the resources of MTA Construction and Development across all business units,” including Metro-North, Long Island Railroad, MTA Bridges and Tunnels and New York City Transit, to use “all the expertise we have,” Zettwoch emphasized.
Contract 4 will transition the program back from design-build to design-bid-build, he noted. “This has really given us the opportunity to optimize the design – we’ve eliminated spaces in the back of the house. We’ve worked with labor and our subway crews to modify our work rules, which actually eliminates the need for a lot of space inside the house.”
The agency is also using “real disincentives in our project management contracts to hold them accountable and get them to get in the batter’s box with us,” he said. “This is a real change in our delivery approach that is really paying off.”
Not “loading contracts” with milestones “is really helping us let our contractors do what they do best, which is build,” he added. “Yes, we’re aligning them with our critical path with TBM launches, revenue service, caving and major funding constraints, Zettwoch said. But the goal is to “find the right cadence for the flexibility for our contractors to come to us and propose unique phased approaches and minimize disruption to our audience.”
Airports abound
Palmina Whelan, capital program director for the $9.5 billion The New Terminal One at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, said the amount of stakeholder collaboration is unprecedented for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s construction programs at its three area airports. He spoke at the forum in conversation with Jim Heitmann, COO of the agency.
“When I was renovating any of the terminals … at LaGuardia, we did it in a silo,” he said. “We did it to match our brand, our experience, our very specific passengers. It was done primarily for the American Airlines operation.”
Whelan said all stakeholders are now coming together to plan projects. “We’re sitting side-by-side with each person and trying to create that common use, still meet some of the preferential treatment needs for the airlines that fly out there, but at the same time make it flexible enough that you can bring new people on board.”
Heitmann noted that this collaboration meant the agency invested about $4 billion, while private entities poured $15 billion into JFK’s transformation. “To be able to leverage our capital capacity through partnerships, there’s the collaborative nature of what Palmina was describing,” he said. “Then [there’s] trying to enable a consistent experience, but allowing brands and brand differentiation to exist, be it terminals, airlines or [really] everyone.”
Palmina Whelan, director of the capital program for the new $9.5 billion Terminal 1 at JFK International Airport (l) and Jim Heitmann, chief operating officer of the Port Authority of New York and NJ, noted a high level of private sector collaboration in agency airport projects.
Photo by Scott Blair for ENR
At Newark International Airport in Newark, NJ, construction began last year on the new $3.8 billion, 2.5-mile Airtrain that, like the existing system, will connect to New Jersey Transit and Amtrak service, but with a four-car system instead of two. Heitmann noted the “tough decision” to design a new alignment for the replacement system, which is scheduled to open in 2030. After that, the agency will be able to remove the old system so Terminal B can be built to replace the current 53-year-old facility.
“You can’t build Terminal B until the [old] AirTrain goes down,” he said. “So we’re working from that date on when to start, when to design … to determine what the demand will be and thinking about new trends” such as air taxis and airport lounges.
Looking further, “there’s a lot of reimagining and consolidation of freight on the north side of JFK,” he said. “At LaGuardia, we’re going to replace the last terminal, Terminal A. We’re not tearing it down. … We’re going to incorporate it into everything we do going forward.”
Bus business
Steven Plate, the Port Authority’s head of major capital projects, also shared updates on progress to rebuild its Manhattan Bus Terminal. He said the transit center was last modified in the 1970s and a $10 billion overhaul is underway in stages.
The first phase is underway and includes rebuilding a more organized ramp system that feeds into the terminal, adding decks to Dyer Avenue and the Lincoln Tunnel, and constructing a temporary staging area that will become a permanent bus depot. Tutor Perini is contracted to build the ramps and staging, while the $271 million deck addition is underway with MLJ Contracting. The finished decks will provide three acres of park space, though Plate did not share when requests for proposals will be issued for the public space modifications or construction phases, construction of the new terminal and provision of commercial and retail space.
Plate also said that the project’s minority business venture program is about to be approved.
“I understand and I’m not making ads, but here’s what I heard recently, from [the agency] …Business Enterprise Office,” he said. “That should be coming out shortly and will open up a lot of opportunities for people on the consulting side as well as the recruiting side.”
