Lower Manhattan redeveLopMent SuMMer 2011

The Project TodayA Note from Joseph T. Brown, P.E., Project Director

In the past ten years, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has been working hard on the reconstruction of West

Street from Chambers Street to Battery Place, not only rebuilding the highway, which was significantly damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks, but also making it better than before. Signs of our success are visible everywhere: we’ve restored access to Battery Park City with temporary pedestrian bridges, broadened the sidewalks and crossings, and converted parking lots

to green spaces. We’ve planted more than 400 new trees, constructed a promenade from West Thames to Battery Park, and built a new West Thames Park. We’ve shifted the

roadway 30 to 50 feet westward to make room for a broad sidewalk in front of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum and for the World Trade Center (WTC) slurry wall—the WTC’s “bathtub” foundation, which holds back the waters of the Hudson River—and new buildings such as 1 WTC (formerly the Freedom Tower).

But most of the current work of our project is beneath the surface or behind the scenes. In preparation for the tenth anniversary of September

11, we’re in the process of raising the grade of the highway from Liberty Street to Vesey Street to match that of the Memorial, which is about seven feet higher. This work has required us to replace, update, or relocate many of the utilities underneath West Street, while maintaining surface traffic—for pedestrians,

bicyclists, and about 5,000 vehicles an hour—as well as access to the adjacent construction sites.

Preparing for 9/11/11

CEDAR ST

Vehicle Security Center

(undergro

und)

Fulton St

liberty St

liberty St brid

geextension

one World trade

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Former deutsche bank site

national September 11

memorial and muSeum

VeSey St bridge

WeSt St/route 9a

Photo courtesy of the Port Authority of N

ew York and N

ew Jersey

Cooperation and Communication NYSDOT is coordinating with multiple agencies involved in the Lower Manhattan reconstruction effort. For example, we are working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is

in charge of constructing the September 11 Memorial and Museum, 1 World Trade Center, and the Vehicle Security Center, an underground facility at Liberty Street that will screen vehicles entering the area. We’re coordinating our work on the frontage of the World Financial Center, as well as modifications to the Liberty Street pedestrian bridge and a host of other issues, with Battery Park City Authority. We’re also coordinating our work with real estate interests such as Brookfield Properties, owners of the World Financial Center, and with Goldman Sachs, whose headquarters is now located on West Street (Route 9A).

Raising West Street We are raising the grade of the highway to match that of the Memorial. This is a particularly challenging task as West Street was built on landfill and has compressible soils. To make sure the soils don’t settle and

damage the utilities beneath the highway (due to the added weight of the fill), we are excavating some of the original soil and replacing it with greater quantities of lightweight fill. For every 3.4 feet of original soil that is excavated, we can substitute 9 feet of lightweight fill without increasing the total weight.

Building the Way to the Memorial In preparation for 9/11/11 and the opening of the Memorial, NYSDOT is building a walkway to and from the site, which has required us to shift West Street farther west. The walkway will be accessible from Greenwich and Albany Streets and proceed to Cedar Street (below right) and underneath the Liberty Street pedestrian bridge (below left), occupying the right lane of northbound West Street. The entry point to the Memorial will be from West Street at Liberty Street.

Continued on page 2

New Left Because of the work above, we’ve removed the option of making a left turn at Liberty Street from northbound West Street. Instead, vehicles must make the turn at Albany Street.

Safer crossing at Chambers Street

Trees at Murray Street

South Promenade

West Thames Park playground

July 20, 2011

Southbound West Street (grade already raised)

New York State Department of TransportationState of New York

Route 9ALower Manhattan Redevelopment

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Lower Manhattan redeveLopMent SuMMer 2011

The Project Today Continued from page 1

Bicycle Route Detour

2 & 3 World

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Bike Path Open Bike Path Closed Street DetourEsplanade Detour

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Bike Path Open Bike Path Closed Street DetourEsplanade Detour

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Legend

The West Thames Park lawn was reopened on August 15, 2011.

What’s Going OnA Hidden World

West Street lies atop the most complex network of utilities in the City. This spaghetti-like maze (see diagram, right) includes scores of sewers, water mains, electric, gas, and telecommunications lines, and other utilities. They are layered between river water lines (pipes that transport cool water between the Hudson River and the WTC chiller plant), the chiller plant itself (which controls the climate of the WTC site’s buildings), the WTC slurry wall, the PATH tubes, bridge foundations, and an underground passageway now being built to connect the WTC site to the World Financial Center. Add the historic Hudson River bulkhead and landfill soils—not to mention the need to coordinate the work of multiple contractors who share a crowded work zone—and you have one of the most complicated construction projects in the country.

Coordinating and Accelerating the Redevelopment of Lower Manhattan

The construction work on West Street next to the WTC site has been staged to facilitate and expedite the numerous revitalization projects being done by other agencies and owners, which total over $20 billion throughout Lower Manhattan. NYSDOT is coordinating with multiple agencies involved in the reconstruction effort.

In a spirit of cooperation, NYSDOT has been able to complete work on behalf of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority) to greatly reduce the time of completion and costs of their projects. This is essential given the enormous impact to the local community, which has suffered greatly as a result of the September 11 attacks and must now cope with the rebuilding efforts.

Examples of this joint effort include the addition to the Liberty Street pedestrian bridge (see photos below) that extended it to Cedar Street. NYSDOT’s fast-track construction of the bridge extension—we completed in six months what usually takes two years or more—made it possible for the Port Authority’s work on the Vehicle Security Center to progress at the same time that the Deutsche Bank Building, which was next to the security center site, was being

demolished. We’ve constructed and/or reconstructed the large water pipes (see story below) leading to and from the Hudson River that will cool many of the structures on the site, accelerating the construction and completing it over a year ahead of schedule. We’ve also designed and constructed a temporary water supply system, the fire hydrants required by the NYC Fire Department for each project, and temporary

sewers that collect stormwater runoff from the Memorial site and Fulton Street.

We’ve worked together to devise the best ways to provide access to the large numbers of pedestrians expected to visit the site and sought input on our efforts from the local community. There is no question that living with continual construction is a challenge.

In Addition to Reconstructing West Street...Our office is in charge of administering funds under the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) emergency relief

program implemented after September 11. These funds were allocated to the repair and reconstruction of local streets south of Canal Street that suffered significant damage or required major rebuilding as a result of the attacks and the recov-ery operations. Of the $132 million allocated for these local roads, we have released $63 million for reconstruction so far.

The office is also responsible for issuing permits to other agencies and entities that want to do any construction on West Street, from Battery Place to 59th Street, and for all emergency repairs, maintenance, and safety improvements along that stretch.

I am proud that our team’s constant coordination and communications, good decisions, and consistent follow-through have lessened the impacts of construction on the people of Lower Manhattan, and have helped to streamline many of our adjacent WTC projects.

Because of the ongoing construction of the underground passageway between the World Trade Center site and

the Winter Garden, the portion of the Route 9A (West Street) bicycle/pedestrian path between Liberty and Vesey Streets has been closed. You have a choice of two detours (see map above): using the lower level of the Battery Park City Esplanade along the Hudson River to go around the World Financial Center, or a street route. To reach the Esplanade from West

Street, head west, following the arrows and white circles with a bicyclist symbol (right); for the street route, follow the bicyclist symbol at left.

National September 11

Memorial

WTC Slurry Wall

PATH TubeVesey Bridge

West Street Work Zone

Haul RoadWTC-WFC Passageway2 WFC

1 WFC

National September 11

Memorial

WTC Slurry Wall

Vesey St Bridge

West Street

West StreetWTC-WFC Passageway2 WFC

1 WFC

PATH Tube

National September 11

Memorial

WTC Slurry Wall

PATH TubeVesey Bridge

West Street Work Zone

Haul RoadWTC-WFC Passageway2 WFC

1 WTC

National September 11

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WTC Slurry WallPATH Tube

Vesey St Bridge

West Street

Construction Road

WTC-WFC Passageway2 WFC

1 WTC

Photo courtesy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

State of New York Andrew M. CuomoGovernor

New York State Department of TransportationJoan McDonald CommissionerMarie Corrado, Esq. Major Projects Director

Route 9A Lower Manhattan Redevelopment OfficeJoseph T. Brown, P.E.Director

To learn about traffic detours and other construction-related changes in the neighborhood, please sign up for

our public advisories by emailing us at route9a@dot.state.ny.us. You may also learn about the ongoing construction by attending our monthly Stakeholders’ Committee meetings, held every third Friday of the month at 10:30 AM in the offices of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, 1 Liberty Plaza, 20th floor. These meetings describe the NYSDOT construction work in the area for the coming month and what was accomplished in the previous one.

We Want to Hear from You

CONTaCT US

Route 9A/Lower Manhattan Redevelopment ProjectNew York State Department of Transportation115 Broadway, Suite 1701 New York, NY 10006

Questions or comments? Call our Community Liaison at 1-800-714-0454

Email: route9a@dot.state.ny.us Please visit our website: www.route9a.info

July 20, 2011

Did You KnowStaying Cool

The Hudson River will cool and dehumidify the new National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Four large underground pipes—some 42" and

others 66" wide, large enough to crawl or even stand in—connect the Memorial site to the Hudson. Two access pipes will draw water from the river, pumping it underneath the World Financial Center and ultimately to a chiller plant

underneath the Memorial. The river water will be used to chill the air supply, helping to cool the buildings on the site, including the visitors’ center and museum, as well as the underground passageway to the World Financial Center. The water will then be sent back to the river via two discharge pipes.

A similar system was used to cool the original WTC complex, but the pipes were partly destroyed during the September 11 attacks. The new pipes are much better for the environment, using only 24 percent of the maximum water flow of the original system.

A NYSDOT contractor removed the damaged lines and relocated their replacements on a former WTC ramp, completing the task in one year.

The work is part of a cooperative effort by NYSDOT and the Port Authority to identify work that can be performed sooner, more quickly, and less expensively.

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