FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 26, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Repairs to the Queens Midtown Tunnel are ahead
of schedule and under budget, Cuomo touts in LIC
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced
on July 20 that permanent repairs to damage
that the Queens Midtown Tunnel suffered
during Superstorm Sandy are fi nishing
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 Tunnel, formerly known
as the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.
Th e governor called the work the MTA
did during the superstorm “masterful”
and recalled how they were able to make
temporary repairs and reopen the Queens
Midtown and Hugh L. Carey tunnels
eight and 14 days aft er the storm, respectively.
Both Lhota and Cuomo recalled the
fl ooding and damage in the tunnels as a
result of Sandy and praised those involved
in the restoration eff ort, including the
MTA, the MTA Bridges and Tunnels
team and the union construction 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. Funding for the tunnel
restorations was provided largely by
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management
Agency.) Th e presentation also explained
that restoration to the Queens Midtown
Tunnel was completed in 37 months, 11
months ahead of schedule.
Improvements to the tunnels included
complete reconstruction of tunnel interiors,
new wall tiles, catwalks and pavements
reconstruction of the tunnel crossing,
new traffi c controls and major fi reline
system upgrades.
In addition, the governor highlighted
the cashless tolling systems that were
implemented on seven MTA bridges
and both of the tunnels, which have
improved traffi c fl ow, reduced congestion,
decreasing commute times and
improving motorist safety since its inception
in September 2017.
To date, the infrastructure improvements
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 development, 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 protest the governor’s
lack of action in signing the maintenance
of eff ort bill. According to one
of the protestors, Bryan Wigfall from
Th e City College of New York, the bill
would cover fringe benefi ts and collective
bargaining contracts for 25 CUNY
and SUNY institutions.
Wigfall added that the bill had passed
both the Senate and Assembly, 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/THE COURIER
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