The port authority decides to build a new bus terminal in the footprint of the current

After several years of community board meetings and looking at 30 different options, the New York and New Jersey Port Authority decided to build a new bus terminal in the same footprint as the current one at 42nd Street. .

While the governor, during his state of the state address, picked up the Port Authority by showing the renderings and identifying the location, the agency made a presentation this week filling in some, but not all the details.

The agency pledged that the project would be similar to the recently completed Moynihan Train Hall in that it would be “airport-grade” and that its funding would include a good deal of private capital. However, the agency would not commit to an exact percentage of public / private funding.

The new station is expected to be able to accommodate 30% more buses than the current facility, to anticipate growth. It will be equipped to manage both electric and possibly autonomous buses. As well as much larger buses than those for which the current terminal was designed. To avoid bottlenecks and bottlenecks, the ramps to the facility will be wide enough to bypass a bus in the event of a breakdown.

“It should be the plan which is our end goal, this is our end goal and this is precisely what this area of ​​the city needs, this is what the region needs,” said Rick Cotton, director Port Authority Executive, in a presentation Thursday.

Listen to Stephen Nessen’s report on the WNYC:

Cotton said after a large contribution from public and community meetings that the agency has decided not to acquire more land than the port authority already owns. Another crucial request from community members was to get NJ Transit buses off the city streets, as well as interstate buses like Bolt and Megagbus. So plans for the new terminal include ramps that connect directly to the Lincoln Tunnel, rather than meandering through the streets. And a separate wing of the terminal for these interstate buses.

Currently, the Port Authority plans to build this facility first and move existing buses to it when it demolishes the old terminal and builds the new one.

“I think that’s a good plan,” Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer told Gothamist. “After a very bad start seven years ago, when the port authority said it wanted to demolish Hell’s Kitchen. It’s all gone, they’ve listened intently to the community and they’ve come a long way since their initial proposal, that says a lot.

The project is due to undergo a federal environmental review which, under the Trump administration, could have lasted two years or died at this point. But it’s unclear how long that could take under the Biden administration. Then the project would go through the city’s ULURP process before construction begins.

The current terminal opened in 1950 and has undergone several improvements over the years, but – before the pandemic – is unable to handle the volume, with 186 doors, 20 bus lines, 17 public toilets and 260,000 passengers per day. Over the years, the port has invested $ 100 million in renovations, including new bathrooms, LED lights, and replacing 60-70% of the ceiling.

John Oliver has dubbed it “the worst place on planet Earth”. and the commuters told Jim O’Grady of WNYC “if hell had hell, that would be it.”

“This is a vital link for New York City, and the bus is one of the most flexible switching instruments, unlike fixed rail, it can adapt to new developments,” Mitchell said. Moss, director of the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation. Gothamist. “It is an intelligent and vital project for the future of the city and the region.”

The Port Authority hopes that the new terminal will open by 2031.