Monday, November 14, 2005

Thus Begins The Backslide

So, while we were initially told that the first segment of the Second Avenue Subway would be built by 2012, we're now being informed that the MTA believes that it would be done no sooner than 2015.

Why?

Money. It always comes down to money. And there simply isn't enough of it to make it all happen, but the problem is far deeper than that. We're talking about a multiyear project and by extending the project to 2015, the costs will escalate even more. What could have been built for $3 billion and finished by 2012 may cost $4 billion due to cost increases and delays if the segment finish date is 2015.

Just look at other major transportation projects that missed their original deadlines - the Big Dig for example. That project ran over budget and over schedule that the costs escalated by several orders of magnitude (and there are continuing costs because of structural problems with the tunnels).

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