Officials say the second avenue extension is “close,” a word engineers now define loosely
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority confirmed Wednesday that the long-promised subway extension remains “on track,” a phrase officials now use to mean roughly anything except trains actually running on the track in question.
A Timeline, Sort Of
“We’re close,” said MTA spokesperson Diane Corcoran, standing in front of a construction fence that has itself outlasted two mayoral administrations. “Close is relative. So is time, honestly, if you think about it hard enough.”
Riders who have followed the project since its initial announcement note that several of them have since had children who are now old enough to also be annoyed about the delay, a milestone the MTA has not officially acknowledged.
Budget Realities
The project remains, per usual, “slightly over budget,” a phrase the agency has used so consistently that several transit reporters keep a template document ready at all times.
The London Prat‘s transport desk has covered Britain’s own infrastructure sagas, including a rail line that took so long some passengers aged out of needing it.
The New York Times reports the latest completion estimate has been quietly revised for the fourth time this year.
Corcoran says the agency remains “fully committed” to the project, a sentence delivered with the practiced calm of someone who has said it many, many times before.
Riders React
Commuters, for their part, say they have made peace with the delay, mostly by developing an entire personality around complaining about it on the existing lines instead.
Corcoran says the agency understands rider frustration, “which is why we’ve added a countdown clock at the station, showing an estimate we update, roughly, whenever we feel like it.”
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SOURCE: https://bohiney.com