Building Towards a Safer and More Efficient Future

The New York/New Jersey region is experiencing an infrastructure renaissance including transportation construction projects that are more sustainable, equitable and resilient than ever before. This work will make major contributions to the region’s economy within the years to come.

NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez working under the leadership of Mayor Eric Adams, is committed to moving New York City towards becoming the most walkable and bikeable city—and the safest—in the nation. The Department of Transportation team is bringing government, local communities, the private sector, and academia together to make this vision a reality.

This session will give an overview and status of the Port Authority capital plan including impacts associated with the COVID pandemic and the timing of upcoming projects such as the Lincoln Tunnel Helix replacement, the JFK Airport redevelopment program, the remainder of the “Restore the George Program” and state of good repair projects at Ports, PATH, Tunnels and Bridges and Aviation Facilities.

The 2020-2024 MTA Capital Program is the largest in the agency’s history—70% larger than any previous program. More than 80% of the Capital Program is dedicated to maintaining and improving the existing system of subways, buses and commuter railroads that gets nearly 5 million people where they need to go every day, even during the ongoing pandemic.

MTA Construction & Development was formed to consolidate all capital projects under one umbrella with a goal of building faster, better and cheaper. Through strong project management and improved business practices, the agency is doing just that, with more than $8 billion in projects initiated in 2021 and more to come this year.

Two leaders at the New York City Dept. of Transportation will discuss strides the agency has made in procurement reform to help it do business more quickly and efficiently. One is a new citywide procurement program launched recently called Passport, and another is an agency-specific program called Bridges CPMS, a cradle-to-grave system providing data to the bridges team for more effective project management. They will share Vision Zero, a program to save lives using speed cameras, and discuss the agency’s commitment to inclusiveness and equity with minority vendor programs—both federal (DBE) and city (MWBE).

This presentation eye-opener will explore the age of city’s inventory. For NYC DOT, rehabilitation and reconstruction turns into historic preservation whether on signature structures over the East River or smaller ones in Central Park. These leaders will highlight significant projects in the capital plan and mention the agency’s first design-build procurements, likely coming out at the end of the year.

This panel will explore the trend to use new infrastructure projects to reverse past damage done to low-income and minority communities. The Biden Administration has emphasized social equity as a key part of national transportation policy, and N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced $3 billion in funding for infrastructure projects that reunite neighborhoods, promote economic growth and revitalize urban centers. Experts from government, construction and community development groups will come together to explain how this effort is unfolding in our region.

This session will review the 10 year effort to increase resiliency and capacity along a 10-mile stretch of the North East Corridor between Newark, N.J., and Penn Station, New York City, including two active projects—the Portal North Bridge and the Hudson Tunnel.

The present 70-year-old Port Authority Bus Station, the busiest in the world, moves over 260,000 commuters daily. This aging legacy facility will be replaced with the New Midtown Bus Terminal. The new terminal will be a state-of-the-art transportation center that will serve as the backbone for commuter travel into and out of the New York metropolitan region. This is but one of the Port Authority’s transformational regional transportation projects that will be discussed.

This presentation will present the opportunities coming in the wake of a $2.3-billion project to replace the I-81 viaduct in Syracuse, New York. Attendees will learn about the efforts by the New York State DOT to rectify the viaduct’s checkered past as an example of infrastructure that divided a neighborhood and the construction work that is expected to take place over the next half-dozen years.

The $1-trillion infrastructure act comes with unprecedented amounts of funding for public agencies and unprecedented new regulations and requirements. Many of them are still rolling out and others require agencies to spend certain amounts of money in certain amounts of time. Learn how tri-state area agencies are navigating this new landscape, which includes new and existing grant and loan programs for new priorities.