Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
Seriously... maybe extending the 7 to Secaucus is needed after all, not as a replacement for Amtrak Gateway but as a replacement for rebuilding Port Authority.
The staging is easy, too - if you finish the subway line, then you can continue to use half of the current Port Authority while the other half remains in use.
At the end of it, you wind up with 10 tracks across the Hudson instead of the current 6, plus the XBL.
All of this together would cost about $20bn at New York prices, though.
|
The NYEDC feasibility study for the 7 extension to Secaucus included a decent sized bus terminal, mindful of the burdens the PABT has long been under. As proposed the extension could comfortably absorb half the current peak hour PABT passenger load so that terminal could be made much larger if desired. Major platform and vertical circulation upgrades (in addtion to the 10th ave station) would however have to be done to the Manhattan stations on the Flushing Line to handle the load.
I half wonder if it would be possible to build a single large bore quad track (2 subway, 2 NEC in a 2x2 stack) tunnel to accomplish both projects more cost effectively. Penn won't be ready to receive more riders probably for decades because of MSG and the physical limitations but ridership can spill onto NYCT at Secaucus in the interim and the North River Tubes can be shut down for rebuilds without causing all NEC services to implode/world come to an end.
Threaded Mode