Community News
Tunnelling Ahead
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I AUGUST 2018 23
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Governor Andrew Cuomo an-nounced
on July 20 that permanent
repairs to damage that the Queens
Midtown Tunnel suffered during Su-perstorm
Sandy are finishing on time
and on budget.
Cuomo held a press conference
at LaGuardia Community College in
Long Island City along with Queens
Borough President Melinda Katz and
MTA Chairman Joe Lhota to provide
updates on the Queens Midtown
Tunnel and the Hugh L. Carey Tun-nel,
formerly known as the Brooklyn
Battery Tunnel.
The governor called the work the
MTA did during the superstorm “mas-terful”
and recalled how they were
able to make temporary repairs and
reopen the Queens Midtown and
Hugh L. Carey tunnels eight and 14
days after the storm, respectively.
Both Lhota and Cuomo recalled the
flooding and damage in the tunnels as
a result of Sandy and praised those
involved in the restoration effort, in-cluding
the MTA, the MTA Bridges and
Tunnels team and the union construc-tion
companies.
According to a video presentation
at the event, the restoration work
to the Queens Midtown Tunnel and
Hugh L. Carey Tunnel cost a total of
$588 million, $270 million of which
went toward the Queens tunnel. Fund-ing
for the tunnel restorations was
provided largely by FEMA (Federal
Emergency Management Agency.)
The presentation also explained that
restoration to the Queens Midtown
Tunnel was completed in 37 months,
11 months ahead of schedule.
Improvements to the tunnels in-cluded
complete reconstruction of
tunnel interiors, new wall tiles, cat-walks
and pavements reconstruction
of the tunnel crossing, new traffic
controls and major fireline system
upgrades.
In addition, the governor high-lighted
the cashless tolling systems
that were implemented on seven MTA
bridges and both of the tunnels, which
have improved traffic flow, reduced
congestion, decreased commute
times and improved motorist safety
since its inception in September
2017.
To date, the infrastructure improve-ments
in Queens include LaGuardia
Airport and John F. Kennedy airports,
which will be the newest airports built
in America since Denver Airport in
1996, and the Van Wyck Expressway.
“When it comes to construction
development, transportation devel-opment,
it’s a very simple rule: you
either move forward or you are left
behind,” Cuomo said.
Not all was as rosy just outside
the college, as CUNY students were
chanting “Save CUNY now!” to pro-test
the governor’s lack of action in
signing the maintenance of effort bill.
According to one of the protestors,
Bryan Wigfall from The City College of
New York, the bill would cover fringe
benefits and collective bargaining
contracts for 25 CUNY and SUNY
institutions.
Wigfall added that the bill had
passed both the Senate and Assem-bly,
but the governor has still failed
to sign the bill.
“We want him to sign it, we deserve
quality services,” Wigfall said.
Photo by Jenna Bagcal
/www.qns.com
