The East Side Access Project Discussion (ESA)

[jcpatten]

I posted this on the Amtrak forum and it was suggested that I post it here.

There's a ton of work that is being done on the Amtrak/LIRR track between where the tracks come out of the East River Tunnels and where the Amtrak/LIRR mainlines diverge to go their separate ways. I've looked all over on the MTA website and can't find any technical details of the track work that's supposed to be done for Amtrak.

I really don't understand geographically what's happening. From what I have seen the Amtrak mainline from New Haven will continue down the side of the multi-track mainline area on a new alignment, down to alongside Sunnyside yard. I can see the bridges and other work happening. But from here I get confused. Where does the inbound mainline go from there? The idea is that the tracks bypass over/under, but I'm not sure how it happens.

I'm even more confused about the outbound line. I cannot see in all the mess that exists today where this track is supposed to go, and if it is supposed to bypass anything.

On top of that there's supposed to be 3 (?) tunnel mouths for the GCT tunnels that LIRR trains from the two mainlines can access. How are they going all fit in?

Like I say I am unable to find details of the various jobs for contracts that the MTA is referring to for the project. There's references to CH057 and CH057A, but I can't find any explanatory documentation.

[Backshophoss]

There are links in this thread to the ESA quarterly reports,from the MTA.com site under Capital Construction section.
There're maps of the various projects in the reports,which are downloadable .pdf files.

[Jeff Smith]

This is relatively recent; not sure if it's been posted here before. Very interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epd3j2DWWYU

[Jeff Smith]

A little less recent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiPmz8s3Y6M local CBS station.

[Jeff Smith]

About two years old, but still very interesting. It also has great shots of Old Penn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HK5KQQzCD0 (link updated)

[Jeff Smith]

Last update from MTAINFO YouTube channel, last September: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnD3qjZkYrw

[jcpatten]

I got on Google Maps today and took a look at the area, and have some understanding of the Westbound bypass/GCT tunnel mouths, thanks to finding some track diagrams in the MTA's quarterly update. Here's a link to the map, hopefully it "stays put".
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7495866,-73.9212061,290m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

The concrete path immediately north of the active tracks (on the left) appears to the be the tunnel mouth for LIRR "Track A". Amtrak's west bypass track would be north of that (and use the empty bridge north of the active tracks). There's a second empty bridge south of the active tracks, but I don't know if that's for a second tunnel lead or the realigned LIRR Mainline 4. According to very non-scaled maps on the Quarterly report PDF the tunnel mouths should all come out at about the same place. If that's the case, then there's no glimmer of progress for the other two tunnel leads. The probably have to get rid of some tracks in the middle of everything in order to start on the middle tunnel.

The second map link I have is:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7480407,-73.9300122,292m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

In the middle of this section (under Honeywell St) is what looks like another tunnel mouth section. I'm guessing it's part of the Amtrak bypass, as the "Q-tip" is immediately to the northwest and would require a really sharp curve to reach. In looking at in 3D it appears pretty deep right there, but there appear to be more retaining walls further west so I guess the bypass tunnel itself will be further west (maybe under Queens Blvd).

The Eastbound bypass looks like a number of tracks between Honeywell St and Queens Blvd need to be moved around before it's even possible to think about.

[SwingMan]

These maps are pretty outdated. ML 2 and 4 were realigned about 2-2 1/2 years ago to go around the setup that was in place in the map. Just recently, the original bridge which ML 2 and 4 used over 48th Street was removed and they are currently working on the south side of the ML 1 and 3 cut.

[BM6569]

Weren't they talking about building a station at/near Sunnyside Yards as part of the ESA project?

[DutchRailnut]

ehh no, to congested an area and with tracks going under sunnyside yard and then hitting into Harold interlocking.

[Riverduckexpress]

Sunnyside station seems to still be planned, the MTA's capital program includes $76.5 million to design and build the station. (pages 155 and 226)

[rr503]

Will yard A be used just for layups? Will there be much action at the west end of the yard, or will it be just in and out from the loop?

[Riverduckexpress]

Newsday: $10B East Side Access project falling further behind schedule

...
Last week, at a meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Capital Program Oversight Committee, project executive Bill Goodrich revealed that since February construction delays at the busy Harold Interlocking in Long Island City have been “getting worse.”

The LIRR shares use of the busy rail junction with Amtrak. To carry out work there, East Side Access construction crews rely heavily on Amtrak taking some tracks out of service on specified nights and weekends, and lending some of its workers to the effort.

But despite written agreements with Amtrak detailing their expected cooperation, Goodrich said project workers “have not been receiving the level of support” from Amtrak that the agency has promised.
...
Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz said the agency “has increased its level of support for East Side Access to help advance the project,” but added that the MTA’s schedule for the project assumes track outages “that go beyond our existing commitments.”

“While the schedule hinges on a number of variables beyond Amtrak’s support, we continue to work closely with MTA to coordinate scheduling and minimize any potential disruption,” Schulz said.
...

The ongoing saga: LIRR and Amtrak aren't getting along and LIRR alleges that Amtrak's lack of support is causing delays on the project.

[Head-end View]

Sounds like they need for Senator Schumer or other influential Washington insiders to kick Amtrak's butt and have them get with the program. Remember a few years back when our friend Long Island Tool used to tell us how Amtrak dragged their feet on everything connected with LIRR?

[lpetrich]

So the station and the tunnel trackage might get done before the track connection at the Harold Interlocking? They might have some contingency plans for starting service in this case, though that would likely be rather limited service.

mta.info | Capital Programs East Side Access now has the Q1 2016 quarterly report.

Here are the Manhattan ones:

• CM005 - Manhattan South Structures - July this year
• CM006 - Manhattan North Structures - August 2017
• CM007 - GCT Caverns - should have started by now, should be done by 2020
• CM014A - GCT South Concourse - late this year
• CM014B - GCT North Concourse - late 2019
• CM015A - 415 Madison Ave. - 2017-2018
• VM014 - Elevators and escalators - 2020

In Queens, CQ032 - Plaza Substation and Queens Structures - should be done by the end of this year.

Looking at the Harold Interlocking ones, the Amtrak ones' expected dates of completion are behind the LIRR ones' dates.

Some systemwide contracts should be done by 2020. Such things as tracklaying and signals.