Cuomo: MTA awarded $886.3M for post-Sandy rebuilding

$120 million in federal funding earmarked for Long Beach branch

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Governor Cuomo announced last week that $886.3 million in federal funding was awarded to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to repair and rebuild infrastructure that was damaged by Hurricane Sandy — and protect and fortify it against future storms. The funding includes $120 million for the Long Beach branch of the Long Island Rail Road.

Officials said the funding from the Federal Transit Administration will help the state continue to “reimagine New York’s vital infrastructure for the new realities of extreme weather.”

The majority of the funding was awarded to MTA New York City Transit, which officials said was dealt the most crippling blows by the storm surge and whose riders are still experiencing a lingering long-term service disruption as crews work to rebuild infrastructure with ongoing service disruptions on the R Line and weekend disruptions on the G Line.

“There are many challenges a transit system faces in the months and years after suffering the types of severe impacts we did during Sandy,” MTA Chairman Thomas F. Prendergast said in a statement. “The work of rebuilding carries on behind the scenes long after the storm has left the public consciousness. At the same time that we are rebuilding an entire subway tunnel, we are fighting back against latent failures — unseen failures brought on by the storm that are waiting to happen — and reduced lifespan of components system wide. This funding is essential in helping us to address those needs and to allow us to continue to provide service at the same time that we build back stronger than we were before the storm.”

The LIRR will receive $147.7 million in funding, with the bulk earmarked for the Long Beach branch. The $120 million will be used for projects that will replace three of four substations on the branch, and permanently restore signals, power, and communications systems, system components and cabling along the right-of-way, including grade crossings and station platforms. Construction is also underway to replace an emergency generator, underwater cable, and bridge electrical systems on the Wreck Lead Bridge, which spans Reynolds Channel and connects Long Beach to Island Park.

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