Transit agencies in New York City and New Jersey are receiving more than $200 million in total federal funding to improve accessibility at select rail stations.
The MTA will receive $156.5 million for accessibility improvements at the Wakefield-241st Street, Kingsbridge Road and 167th Street subway stations in the Bronx; the 145th Street subway station in Harlem; and the and 110th Street subway station in East Harlem, the Federal Transit Administration said on Tuesday. The work will include installing elevators, updating platforms to reduce gaps, adding tactile platform edge-warning strips, repairing stairways and improving signage and announcement systems, per the FTA.
NJ Transit will receive an $83.3 million grant to improve accessibility at the century-old Brick Church station in East Orange, along the Morris and Essex Line. Work there will include adding two elevators with backup generators, installing accessible platforms and renovating a pedestrian tunnel and stairs, officials said. NJ Transit also said upgrades would be made to the station’s historic features and complement other improvements made with state funds, including upgrades to signage and communication systems, new historic lights, repairs to historic benches and a new art installation on windows.
The Brick Church station is among the most used on the Morris and Essex line, according to NJ Transit.
NJ Transit said Tuesday it expects the project to take four years. Federal officials did not announce a timetable for the New York upgrades at a press conference on Tuesday and the MTA hasn’t yet returned messages seeking details on its expected timeline.
NJ Transit President Kevin Corbett celebrated the $83.3 million grant as “one of the best investments we can make in New Jersey.” “There’s a lot of work to be done on the platform, so it is a major transformative project,” he said. “It really will make an incredible difference to the countless residents, enhance their quality of life as well as boosting the local economy.”
The grants come courtesy of the 2021 federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which authorized $108 billion for public transportation. The FTA on Tuesday announced a total of $343 million for retrofitting stations within eight transit systems nationwide. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said the projects would make public transportation “more accessible for older Americans, people with disabilities and all transit users.”
This story has been updated to include information on the expected timeline for improvements to the Brick Church station.
