George Washington Bridge Bus Station Evacuated Due to Gas Odor From Construction Site

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Buses heading in and out of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station were rerouted Wednesday morning as the station was evacuated due to a detected odor of gas, a Port Authority spokesman told Patch.

A construction worker detected the gas emanating from the construction site at West 179th Street and Broad around 10:35 a.m., the spokesman told Patch. All construction workers and commuters were then evacuated from the station, the spokesman said.

Construction at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station will not be completed by the end of 2016, a long-anticipated deadline. The $183 million renovation of the station, which sits atop one of the busiest bridges in the country, was originally proposed eight years ago and may not be finished until April 2017. Construction began in 2014 after numerous delays caused by the 2008 recession and damaged suffered during Hurrican Sandy.

Community Board 12, which represents Washington Heights and Inwood, was supposed to hold a meeting where the public could meet the private developers behind the project. The meeting was postponed to let Community Board members get a walkthrough of the construction site and is expected to be held sometime in January.

Photo by Doc Searls via Flickr/Creative Commons