Credit: MTA / Trent Reeves on Flickr
The Interborough Express is one step closer to bridging numerous transit-deprived neighborhoods across Brooklyn and Queens, as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday approved the project’s full design. At its monthly board meeting, the MTA awarded a nearly $166 million design contract to the joint engineering venture Jacobs/HDR, according to amNY. The two-year agreement will begin preliminary design development and includes a “comprehensive scope of work”—such as surveys, geotechnical and environmental investigations, and structural inspections—to move the project forward.
Engineers will also participate in third-party negotiations and public outreach, according to MTA officials. Total construction costs for the IBX are expected to be $5.5 billion, with another $432 million for train cars, according to Time Out.
“The joint venture was selected because of its strong leadership team, thoughtful management approach, its comprehensive understanding of corridor constraints, and its extensive experience performing the work of comparable magnitude and complexity,” Charles Gantz, project executive for the IBX, told amNY…