South Ferry Station Delayed
The end of January saw some blundering news on the subway front. For the longest time, weekend riders of the 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 have put up with a ton of service diversions due to work on the new South Ferry terminal. While the usefulness of a revamped South Ferry is great, I’m sure many riders could not wait for things to get back to normal.
So when news came out last month that the station’s opening would be delayed, I’m sure a huge groan was echoed by many. The main culprit for the delay turns out to be an inch. The platform was off by an inch in some spots. Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more in this report:
Oops!
A staggeringly basic blunder is delaying the grand opening of the MTA’s first new subway station in 20 years, the Daily News has learned.
The platform at the $530 million South Ferry station is a wee bit too far from the train tracks, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Recent inspections found gaps between the platform and No. 1 train cars up to 1 inch wider than federal rules allow, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority confirmed.
Riders will have to wait another three to four weeks before they can use the station while workers make some $200,000 in fixes, the MTA said yesterday.
“Oh, my God,” sighed Andrew Albert, a riders representative on the MTA board. “That’s incredible.”
The MTA is conducting a review.
“We’re looking to determine who is at fault, and if it turns out to be one of our contractors, then we’ll pursue having them cover the cost,” MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said.
The mistake could have been made in the engineering or construction phase.
The station was slated to open in December 2007, but suffered repeated delays.
Just seven weeks ago, MTA brass predicted the station would open this month.
In addition to the too-skinny platform, water continues to leak into the underground station.
Click here for the complete report.
However it turns out this was not the only snafu. The MTA also dealt with a testing issue which surprise surprise involved platforms. Once again, Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more in this report:
Double oops.
The MTA’s recent discovery that the new South Ferry subway platform falls short of federal regulations is the second snafu in its construction, sources familiar with the project said Wednesday.
About six months ago, a test train sent along the tracks leading to the station ran into trouble – literally, a source familiar with the project said.
The platform was too wide for the train to pull alongside, one source said.
Construction workers at the new $530 million station had to trim the platform, sources said – and they apparently shaved off too much.
The Daily News reported Wednesday that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority just learned that gaps between the platform and train cars exceeded the 3-inch cap set by the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The gaffe will delay the subway’s opening another three to four weeks.
“It was a mistake, an obvious mistake,” MTA Capital Construction President Michael Horodniceanu said yesterday, adding that the platform is on a slight curve, resulting in a range of distances from the edge to train cars.
“No one is more disappointed than me that it happened, but it did happen,” Horodniceanu said, answering questions with MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger after the MTA’s monthly board meeting.
Fashioning, shipping and installing a thicker rubbing board along the platform’s edges will take about three or four weeks and cost about $200,000, officials said.
Click here for the complete report.
How sad is it that the station faced this delay? I find it inexcusable that such a costly error was made. What happened to people being on top of their job to avoid such mistakes. Was this poor planning, poor execution, or a combination of both. The mistakes will be taken care of but I would highly suggest they take the time to study what mistakes were made so they can avoid them in the future. Lets hope there are no more delays as we really need this station up & running to its highest capabilities!
xoxo Transit Blogger
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