PB gets contract to study NYC No. 7 extension

New York City has awarded a $250,000 contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff to quickly study the potential of extendin the city subway’s No. 7 line from Manhattan’s West Side under the Hudson River to Secaucus, N.J.

The city is funding the contract unilaterally, not waiting for New York State or New Jersey to contribute. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, in canceling the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) project last year, cited a lack of fiscal commitment from the city and New York State as one reason for his decision.

Following Christie’s decision last October to formally kill the ARC project, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg advanced the No. 7 extension as a partial alternative to cross-Hudson River transport congestion. Some rail advocates had actively advanced the concept for at least a decade prior to the mayor’s suggestion.

The proposed No. 7 line extension envisions intercepting New Jersey Transit NEC riders eventually bound for Manhattan’s East Side, offering access to and from Manhattan’s developing West Side Yards area, Times Square, and Grand Central Terminal, as well as points in the borough of Queens. Some proponents also suggest Hoboken, N.J., as an interim stop.

PB, which was also involved in the ARC project, will study the feasibility of the No. 7 extension, analyzing cost estimates and potential ridership among other factors. It is expected to complete the effort in three months.

The cost of the ARC project, originally about $5 billion, officially climbed to between $8.9 billion and $9.1 billion when the governor made his decision, with New Jersey responsible for any cost overruns. ARC would have created a twin-track, six-mile rail line paralleling Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) from Secaucus to Midtown Manhattan, serving a stub-end terminal separate from Amtrak’s Penn Station (though connected by walkways).