New York City and the federal government have approved construction to begin on the Port Authority Bus Terminal replacement in Midtown, clearing the way for the decrepit transit hub to finally get a makeover.
“Today is a red-letter day,” Port Authority Executive Director Rock Cotton said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon. “We now have in hand all the needed permits to move forward with replacing the agency’s long-outdated bus terminal and enduring eyesore in the middle of Manhattan with the world-class transportation gateway this region has long deserved.”
The Port Authority has pitched a rebuild of the bus terminal for nearly a decade, and landed on a $10 billion plan aimed at replacing the dingy old space with a sleek new building filled with natural light. The project also includes a new building to store and stage buses, as well as new ramps leading into and out of the Lincoln Tunnel.
At long last, agency officials said, construction on the project will begin early next year, with crews beginning construction on new decks over Dyer Avenue. Port Authority officials said they will bid out contracts for the rest of the project, but it’s still unclear how exactly they’ll pay for all the work.
Part of the overall funding hinges on payments from new commercial developments proposed at or near the new terminal. The agency has also been rushing to get a $1 billion federal loan approved for the project ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration in January.
The current Midtown bus terminal is 74 years old and “functionally obsolete,” according to the Port Authority. The planned structure will help accommodate projected commuter growth in the coming decades and permanently close a portion of 41st Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues.
Officials said the project is set to be done in phases, with the staging and bus storage facility to be built first, as it will serve as a temporary terminal while the current terminal is torn down and rebuilt. The development will take place on Port Authority-owned property stretching west to Eleventh Avenue.
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