Gov. Cuomo proudly announced that work performed by the MTA Office of Capital Construction, NYC Transit and private contractors on the rehabilitation of the Canarsie L subway line East River Tunnel was completed ahead of schedule and under budget once again illustrates how he continues to ignore past transit history.
This project reached what is known as substantial completion and will go into beneficial use. Super Storm Sandy occurred in 2012. You have to ask why it took the MTA eight years later to complete?
Today the work is essentially finished. There is always the remaining outstanding 1 percent of odds and ends. There is still additional work to do. This includes completion of inspection and acceptance for hundreds of contract punch list items, receipt of asset maintenance plans for project components, followed by the release of retainage and final payment to the contractor(s).
The final closeout process for a project of this size can average six months to one year before contract(s) closeout. The contract closeout milestone is when a project is really complete.
What Cuomo and the MTA ignored is why for four years they have been unsuccessful in applying for two old Federal Transit Administration discretionary funded project allocations that would also improve the Canarsie line.
On Feb. 3, the FTA published Federal Notice of Available Funding for Federal Fiscal Year 2020. This included the availability of carryover earmark allocations from 2016. They are NY Canarsie Power Improvements $3,200,271 and NY Canarsie Power Improvement Program Expedited Project Delivery Pilot Program for $13,121,114.
Details may be found under Table 16 – Prior Years Unobligated Section 5309 Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants Allocations.
MTA should have previously developed and submitted grant applications to apply for these funds totaling $16,321,385. Four years later, work should have already been completed. Perhaps this work could have been coordinated with the Canarsie Line East River Tunnel project.
Sharing the same overnight and weekend track outages along with NYC Transit Force Account employees might have saved both time and money. Why has MTA been unsuccessful in having these funds obligated under approved grants?
These funds will eventually lapse and be lost to MTA.
The MTA is in intense competition against transit agencies from other cities and states around the nation. It hurts NYC and the Metro NY area, when the MTA leaves these discretionary dollars on the table year after year. Our Congressional delegation loses credibility when lobbying for more transit dollars.
What incentive is there for Washington to approve additional discretionary transit dollars, when you don’t follow up and apply for these funds? As each year goes by, the project cost will increase.
The dollar value of the earmark does not. In the end, taxpayers, commuters and MTA employees end up the losers. With a multi-billion growing shortfall in the MTA $51 billion 2020 – 2024 Five Year Capital Plan, every dollar counts. MTA must move quickly to secure these two FTA earmarks.
Sincerely.
Larry Penner
Larry Penner is a transportation historian and advocate who previously worked 31 years for the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office.
