Fulton Street Transit Mess

I've written about the MTA's Fulton Street transit hub project in the past, but will now be able to devote more time to the project given my new location. I've got a bird's eye view of the project, and while work is going on, it's hard to tell exactly when the MTA will finish the project.

The MTA provides a nice rosy and cheery photo of what the new entry building will look like inside, but it was always what the outside of the structure that convinced people that the MTA should go ahead with the project.

The project schedule gives you an idea of where and how the project is progressing, though there is no timeline actually present. I can tell you that the demolition of 189 Broadway is complete, work is progressing on Dey Street, and by all measures, they are into contracts three and four.

The photos tell a slightly different story. It's one where Lower Manhattan is a perpetual work zone. This is a good thing if the work the MTA says it will do actually gets done. If this project continues slipping and the MTA has to further cut the project, there should be real serious questions asked as to what was accomplished by all the destruction and displacement of businesses and commerce in the area already hard hit by the Ground Zero disaster a mere block away.

This first picture is looking East on Dey Street from Church (across from Ground Zero). There is no through traffic allowed and Century 21 has to maneuver around the construction to stock its major department store. Dey Street has been closed for months to traffic so that the Dey Street connector could be built linking Ground Zero transit (PATH and the 1 and Q/R) to the other lines in Lower Manhattan.

 

That's the corner of Fulton and Broadway. If you're a pedestrian, you've got to run the gauntlet of construction. Fulton Street does not go through to Church and there is limited access from the East Side of Lower Manhattan via Fulton because of the construction at this intersection. The big hole in the ground used to be teeming with stores and is where the Transit Hub's signature feature was to be located. The glimmering glass oculus was to let light into the inner reaches of the twisted maze of corridors linking the rail lines together. Now, we're not quite sure what will happen there.

 

This final photo shows the utilities work on Fulton Street between Church and Broadway. The street is also closed to traffic, and adds to the congestion in Lower Manhattan.