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1/5/2023
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City last month announced it will award a $382 million design-build contract for the rehabilitation of the Metro-North Railroad Park Avenue Viaduct in East Harlem.
To be awarded following MTA board approval, the contract represents the first phase of a long-term project, MTA officials said in a press release.
The work calls for crews to replace major segments of the elevated steel structure, nearly half of which was built in 1893. Existing structures, tracks, power and communications and signals systems also will be replaced, MTA officials said. All Metro-North trains traveling on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines use the viaduct to access Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan.
The project is expected to reduce noise and vibration through modern design and materials, MTA officials said.
As part of the project, MTA will enter into a project labor agreement (PLA) with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and Vicinity and affiliated unions and their members, MTA officials said. It’s the first PLA since the creation of the MTA’s Capital Construction and Development Co. in 2003, which was established as a subsidiary of the transit agency to manage major capital projects.
The PLA will improve efficiency and reduce costs without compromising worker pay or safety, MTA officials said. The agreement will also provide pre-apprenticeship training for Harlem residents to create pathways to union jobs.