The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 51

The Port Authority has put out new rebuilding timetables, and they once again delay the completion of key portions of the project. The PATH terminal wont be finished until 2014, and the Freedom Tower wont be finished until 2013. Here's the specifics for various portions of the project and costs. The first date is the target date, followed by the probable date of completion, followed by the costs:

Transportation Hub 4Q 2013; 2Q 2014; $3.2 billion;
Memorial*
Interim Plaza Turnover (80% deck complete) 4Q 2010; 1Q 2011
Complete Plaza Turnover (100% deck complete) 3Q 2011; 4Q 2011
Museum Completion 1Q 2013; 2Q 2013
One World Trade Center, Freedom Tower 2Q 2013; 4Q 2013; $3.1 billion
Greenwich Street 2Q 2012; 4Q 2012; $281 million**
Vehicle Security Center 1Q 2012; 3Q 2012; $633 million

The Memorial is scheduled to be open in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks, but not fully open or completed. The budget is controlled outside the Port Authority, which is why it doesn't show in the Port Authority's report here. The Vehicle Security Center is set to be built upon the site of the former Deutsche Bank building, but that structure still remains to be deconstructed. It remains to be seen when that will happen.

As for the costs, the total project will be more than $700 million over the last estimate.

Each time the Port Authority delays construction deadlines, the costs increase. There simply is no urgency on the part of the Port Authority to finish the project in a timely fashion, which means that work at the site remains far slower than it otherwise should be.

In just the last three months since our June assessment, we have begun erecting steel for the
Memorial; nearly completed bidding out the contracts for One World Trade Center, The Freedom Tower; installed all 47 steel arches that form the underground East-West passageway for the Transportation Hub; and have all but finished the excavation for Towers 2, 3 and 4. This is important progress that we must build on.

Moreover, in addition to making permanent a centralized decision-making structure – the WTC Steering Committee – which has proven critical over the past three months, this report also recommends the establishment of a new Office of Program Logistics to be housed in the Port Authority – a command and control structure to efficiently manage the enormously complex construction logistics on and around the 16-acre WTC site.

The residents and business of Lower Manhattan are understandably frustrated. They live and work in a 24/7 construction zone and we must do a better job of communicating with them. But the fact is, as this report makes clear, the current construction activity at the World Trade Center site pales in comparison to what the site will look like over the next five years.

This goes to the urgency of rebuilding and how and why more progress hasn't been achieved.

The report goes on to rebut criticism over the transit hub, noting that it would be the third largest mass transit hub in the region behind the Grand Central Station and Penn Station in the region, and would handle 250,000 people and 200,000 commuters daily. Some of the additional costs come from having extended 10-car platforms to enable more subway cars to stop per train. Currently, only 8 car trains can be handled by the system.

The report also studies the prospect of making the latest iteration of the temporary station permanent and finds that doing so would jeopardize some of the federal funding for rebuilding the PATH transit system through the Ground Zero site. It also conflicts with space that was designated for vehicle security access points and the performing arts center.

Delays in the construction at the Freedom Tower are being blamed on the necessity to do certain kinds of work on the site only when PATH isn't operating, which essentially puts that work off until nights and weekends (off-peak periods).

Meanwhile, the Port Authority hired a traffic expert to help improve pedestrian and vehicle traffic around Ground Zero as construction progresses.

UPDATE:
Curbed breaks out the timeline thusly:

September 11, 2011: As previously reported, the aim is to have the September 11 Memorial open for the tenth anniversary of the attacks. According to the PA, "To make this commitment, the Port Authority developed a construction solution that allows the roof of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub’s mezzanine to be built first instead of last as had been originally programmed. That roof will serve as the floor of the Memorial Plaza and allow the project to be accelerated."

2012: The Vehicle Security Center, the underground access point for the commercial development on the site and one of the tricky projects that has been holding everything back, will be completed between the first and third quarters of 2012.

2012: The new Greenwich Street, "the front door to Towers 2, 3 and 4, and a key access point to the Memorial" will be completed between the second and fourth quarters of 2012. Hey, that's ahead of schedule!

2013: The underground September 11 Museum will be completed between the first and second quarters of 2013.

2013: One World Trade Center, aka the Freedom Tower, is scheduled for completion between the second and fourth quarters of 2013.

2013-2014: Oh, Santiago. The World Trade Center Transportation Hub will be completed between the fourth quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2014 (we'll go ahead and assume 2014), at a cost of $3.2 billion. By the way, that's more expensive than the Freedom Tower, which will cost $3.1 billion.

UPDATE 10/3/2008:
The Port Authority has launched a new website, WTC Progress, to track developments at the site, including photos and other related information.