MTA awards contract for LIRR work at Grand Central Terminal

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) awarded a $404.8 million contract for the construction of the future Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) concourse at Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

The contract was awarded to GCT Constructors JV, a joint venture between Schiavone Construction Co. and John P. Picone Inc. The contract, which with options could increase to $428.9 million, was granted after competitive bids were received from nine other firms.

Funding for the contract will come from a federal grant and local funds, MTA officials said in a press release.

Under the contract, workers will build the architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical facilities, and escalators and elevators that will comprise LIRR's future 375,000-square-foot passenger train concourse and related ventilation plants at 44th and 50th Streets.

Work in the concourse will include the construction of 17 deep escalators at 45th, 46th, 47th and 48th streets, and the installation of elevators connecting the LIRR passenger concourse to the station caverns 140 feet below Park Avenue.

The contract includes major civil work to create passenger connections from the new LIRR concourse up to Grand Central's Lower Level Dining Concourse, Grand Central’s Biltmore Room on the Upper Level, the 47th Street Cross Passageway and 45th Street cross passageway.