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The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's (PANYNJ) board has approved a $221 million contract to fabricate and erect the steel for the Santiago Calatrava-designed Oculus, which will serve as the gateway to the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City and its interconnected transit systems.

The award marks the last major contract for the hub, with 94 percent of the contracts now awarded, authority officials said in a prepared statement.

The Oculus will serve as the primary link for pedestrian access to the Port Authority Trans-Hudson heavy-rail rapid transit system, 13 MTA New York City Transit subway lines, as well as retail shops, four office towers and the World Financial Center.

Under the $221 million contract, Skanska/Koch Inc., a division of Skanska USA Civil, will build the structure that will frame the hub's main concourse.

The contract, along with increased insurance costs and other trade contracts associated with the project, required the authority to draw down $180 million from a $600 million program contingency fund established in 2008, according to PANYNJ. The allocation will go toward a board-reauthorized transportation hub budget of $3.44 billion, up from $3.26 billion.

"The thousands of commuters who will pass through the hub every day will benefit from the seamless transit connections it will provide and the economic boost to the economy," said Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward.