George Washington Bridge Bus Station to Miss Construction Deadline

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — The $183 million renovation of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, first proposed eight years ago, was supposed to be completed by the end of this year. But a new report indicates that the project may not be finished until April of 2017.

A spokesman for the George Washington Bridge Bus Station Development Venture, the private developer working with the Port Authority on the project, told Metro that construction challenges will push the project's completion back several months.

"Reconstruction progress of the GWB Bus Terminal has reached 90 percent completion," Gomez said in a statement sent to Metro. "The final phase consists mainly of integrating and testing all of the new systems that we are putting in place, into one smooth cohesive operation."

Construction on the bus terminal — located on a two-block stretch between West 178th and 179th streets and Fort Washington and Wadsworth avenues — began in 2014 after years of delay due to the recession and damage brought by Hurricane Sandy.

The bus terminal has remained open during the construction, but several of its entrances and exits are blocked off. Incoming passengers are forced to exit the terminal through one staircase located on 178th street and departing passengers can only access their buses by a temporary staircase on 179th street, according to a Port Authority pamphlet from 2014 (the most recent relevant information posted to its website). Neither staircase is ADA accessible, and handicapped passengers must call in advance and get picked up on Fort Washington Avenue.

The Port Authority has not commented on the missed construction deadline, forcing elected officials to demand answers, Metro reported.

"My office contacted the Port Authority with a number of concerns about this terminal, including the construction delays, and they’ve said they’re getting us answers and will meet with us to provide updates this month," Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer told Metro. "The George Washington Bridge bus terminal is an economic engine for upper Manhattan and a crucial transportation link — it needs to get done."

Read the full Metro article here.

Photo courtesy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey