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East Side Access project gets $194M stimulus from feds

East Side Access project gets $194M stimulus from feds
By Philip Newman

The federal government has announced it is providing more than a quarter of a billion dollars in economic stimulus for the Second Avenue subway and East Side Access projects.

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D−Astoria) said “these stimulus grants should help put ‘shovels in the ground’ more quickly for the Second Avenue subway and East Side Access.”

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the latest grants would not increase total federal commitments for the two projects, but would expedite delivery of the money allocated for them.

LaHood said the Second Avenue subway project would get $78.9 million and the East Side Access $195.4 million.

“I thank President [Barack] Obama and Secretary LaHood for their continued efforts to bring stimulus investments to New York,” Maloney said.” Stimulus funding is creating good jobs now and helping build transit improvements that New Yorkers can use for generations to come and that’s a win−win for our community.”

Both projects are almost entirely in Maloney’s 14th Congressional District, which takes in much of Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Astoria.

The Second Avenue subway is intended to relieve severe overcrowding on the Lexington Avenue line’s No. 4, 5 and 6 trains. The line carries 40 percent of all city subway passengers.

The East Side Access will enable the Long Island Rail Road to serve Grand Central Terminal in a new station concourse more than 100 feet below street level.

The Second Avenue subway will be 8 12 miles long with two−track lines starting at 125th Street and ending at Hanover Square in Lower Manhattan. The subway’s first segment will include stops at 72nd, 86th and 96th streets.

It will also mean a new LIRR station in Sunnyside.

Maloney has estimated that the Second Avenue subway project has already created 16,000 jobs, generated $842 million in wages and produced $2.87 billion in economic activity.

The East Side Access has created 22,000 jobs, generated $1.176 billion in wages and produced $4 billion in economic activity, she said.

Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e−mail at news@timesledger.com or phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 136.