NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has completed Phase one of the rebuilding of the Park Avenue Viaduct, the 132-year-old, four-track elevated structure in East Harlem carrying Metro-North trains to and from Grand Central Terminal.
The first phase included 128 bridge installations and replacement of 8,240 track feet from East 115th Street to East 123rd Street; the MTA says the project as a whole is $93 million under budget and 51 months ahead of schedule.
“The Park Avenue viaduct is a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of Metro-North riders,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a press release, “and now, riders will benefit from a more reliable ride for decades to come. Completing work on an elevated structure that dates back to the Gilded Age ahead of schedule and under budget shows what’s possible when we modernize our infrastructure and put riders first.”
The project will rebuild a total of about 4,500 feet of the viaduct, used by 98% of Metro-North trains.
The project used an innovative gantry system erected over the viaduct to replace sections of the existing concrete and steel bridge deck with hew prefabricated sections, with replacements occurring over 19 weekends since June 2024. The weekend work would see two of the four tracks taken out of service, allowing operations to continue on the remaining tracks, while sections of the existing structure were cut out and replaced with the 190,000-pound prefabricated sections. Track and other systems were then connected, allowing full operation to resume by Monday morning.
“This is a banner day for the new MTA: Delivering a long-overdue infrastructure upgrade ahead of schedule, under budget, and without disrupting riders,” said Jamie Torres-Springer, president of MTA Construction & Development. “Thanks to strong leadership, innovative planning, and smart delivery, we’ve replaced Phase 1 of the Park Avenue Viaduct better, faster and cheaper, and we’re just getting started.”
While the structure replacement of Phase 1 is complete, additional system and track work will continue through the winter, with the project expected to be completed in April 2026. Phase 2, covering East 127th Street to mid-block between East 131st and East 132nd streets, is expected to be substantially completed in September 2027.
51 months ahead of schedule? Must be a typo. That’s over 4 years. Nothing in New York gets done that fast.