Metro-North Announces Reconstruction Plans For 3 Stations
Continuing with the latest Metro-North news, the MTA issued a press release to announce their reconstruction plans for the Ossining, Philipse Manor, & Scarborough stations. Here is the full press release courtesy of the MTA:
The ongoing rehabilitation of Hudson Line stations has reached Ossining, Scarborough and Philipse Manor, MTA Metro-North Railroad announced today.
Working from south to north, with work just finishing up at Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley-on-Hudson, and Irvington, 13 Hudson Line stations have now been completely rebuilt.
The overhauls continue with a $67 million upgrade planned for Ossining, Scarborough and Philipse Manor, where new platforms, canopies, shelters, enclosed staircases, lighting, benches, public address systems, audio-visual information systems and trash receptacles are planned for each station.
The overpass at Scarborough will be demolished and replaced with a new one that has elevators on either side, making the station fully accessible to the disabled for the first time. At Scarborough, which is sandwiched between Kemey’s Cove and the Hudson River, a temporary station will be built south of the existing one. Contractor access to the west side will be to drive across the tracks at a temporary at-grade crossing. With equipment, materials and construction trailers occupying the space at the foot of the northbound platform, a temporary platform will be built in the parking lot behind the outbound local track.
Another temporary inbound platform will be built directly atop of track four, which will be out of service. They will be connected by a temporary overpass.
During this work, a dozen parking spaces will be out of service. The Village of Briarcliff Manor is instituting a valet parking service during construction with parking in the drive aisles.
At Ossining, where an historic brick station building straddles the four tracks below, six new and one rehabilitated staircase will connect the station and Secor Road with the platforms. Four new elevators will be built. Two elevators will be installed in shaft ways that long ago held baggage handling elevators and will connect the elevated walkway on the north side of the station building to the two island platforms. Two new elevators will connect Secor Road overpass with the parking areas east and west of the tracks.
In a separate but related project, Metro-North will begin to restore the architectural integrity of the Tarrytown Station building. Inside, the station building is in good shape, but outside, much structural work is needed. Most importantly the building’s foundation, which was settled in the northeast corner, will be corrected and stabilized.
In addition, three roof dormers that were removed from the track side of the building in the 1980s will be rebuilt during the roof replacement to bring daylight back into the waiting area. A porte-cochere that existed years ago on the front or east side of the building also will be rebuilt, subject to a traffic study.
Windows will be refurbished or replaced in kind. Exterior columns and eaves will be restored. Copper gutters and leaders will be replaced in kind.
The design for repairs at Tarrytown is being prepared for review in January by the State Historic Preservation Office of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Advertisement for a construction contractor is expected next spring with work to begin in summer. The station and ticket window will remain operational during the restoration.
Work on the platforms, staircases, elevators and overpasses at Tarrytown is planned to will be undertaken as a single project beginning in mid-2009. Tarrytown is the only station in the interlocking north of Irvington and south of Philipse Manor.
During construction at Philipse Manor, Scarborough and Ossining, morning customers will be boarding southbound trains on the opposite platform. Signs will be posted at the stations and announcements will be made directing customers to the correct platform
Scheduling of station construction projects is dictated by the track layout. To work on platforms, the adjacent track has to be taken out of service. To do that, trains must be routed onto other tracks at switches, also called interlockings. Often the distance between interlockings is several miles and may include several stations. So it makes sense to bundle work at stations within a given interlocking to take advantage of the track outage.
That’s why work at Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley-on-Hudson, and Irvington was done simultaneously and why works at Ossining, Scarborough and Philipse Manor will be undertaken as a single project.
That’s also why Track 4, the western-most, riverside track, also known as the inbound local track, will be taken out of service on January 15, 2008 for 18 months during work at Ossining, Scarborough and Philipse Manor. During this outage, customers will board AM peak trains from the opposite side, Track 3, also known as the outbound local track.
While I am sure some customers will complain about the temporary changes at their respective stops, they will hopefully enjoy the upgraded facilities to help create a better railroad.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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