$2.6 Billion Allocated to East Side Access Project

Governor George Pataki was joined by Federal Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters today in signing a “Full Funding Grant Agreement,” which promises the city $2.6 billion over the next seven years.

The East Side Access Project is a plan to connect the Long Island Railroad with Grand Central Terminal in order to ease overcrowding at Penn Station. It is estimated that the project will cost $6.2 billion and be completed in 2013. The news comes one week after Mayor Bloomberg listed transportation as one of the major challenges facing the city before 2030.

“In 1996, I laid out a plan for the 21st century linking New York’s vast transportation networks,” said Governor Pataki in a statement. “Together we have achieved much of that vision and put New York on the fast track to a brighter future--equipping the greatest city in the world with the finest transportation network in the world.”

-Heather Corcoran

AP Photo/Todd Bissonette