Congestion pricing will fund subway station accessibility projects across NYC, MTA says
NEW YORK — A century-old problem impacts a significant number of subway riders in New York City – the lack of access to stations for people with disabilities.
The MTA says much of the revenue it expects to get from congestion pricing will go towards solving the issue.
According to the MTA, the city is home to more than 1 million people with disabilities and more than 1.5 million residents over the age of 65, plus 250,000 children under the age of 2 whose families use strollers to get around.
Only one-third of subway stations in New York City are fully accessible, however, according to transit agency officials.
Wakefield-241st Street station tapped for improvements, MTA says
There's an unavoidable challenge more than 6,000 daily 2 train riders face when using the Wakefield-241st Street station in the Bronx – there's no elevator.
Riders entering the station on White Plains Road have to climb a flight of stairs just to get to the elevated mezzanine level, then after paying their fare and walking through the turnstiles, they have to traverse another set of stairs to get to the platform.
It's a problem that Jamie Torres-Springer, MTA President of Construction and Development, says isn't going unnoticed. He and an MTA civil engineer took CBS News New York's Elijah Westbrook on an exclusive tour of the station and showed him what's being done to alleviate the struggles for so many.
"Typically the elevator itself is about 5 percent of the cost," Torres-Springer said. "A lot of the work is things like relocating these critical utilities, building new portions of stations ... creating a whole new entrance to this station and making it a lot more convenient."
MTA officials say the only way to accommodate the improvements is to extend the station a few more feet north above White Plains Road and build a new mezzanine. They also say a new elevator will give commuters direct access to the trains.
"Then improving the electrical, all these backup house facilities that we need to run the subway system," Torres-Springer said.
Torres-Springer said they would not have an exact timeline for the project until it's awarded in summer 2025.
"As part of congestion pricing, we'll have $15 billion of improvements that we will make to our system and that includes 23 stations," he said.
Six of those stations are located in the Bronx.
