Lower Redevelopment Summer 2011

Route 9A State of New York New York State Department of Transportation Redevelopment

Preparing for 9/11/11 Photo courtesy of the Port Authority of New of New of the Port Authority Photo courtesy York and

One World Trade Center Bridge Vesey St National September 11 Fulton St Memorial and

The Project Today Museum Jersey New A Note from Joseph T. Brown, P.E., Project Director Former site n the past ten years, the New York State West St/ Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has been working hard on the reconstruction of West Liberty St I Route 9 Street from Chambers Street to Battery Place, not (underground) only rebuilding the highway, which was significantly Vehicle Security Center A damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks, but ST also making it better than before. CEDAR Exten Signs of our Bridge success are visible sion everywhere: we’ve July 20, 2011 restored access to Liberty St Battery Park City Cooperation and Communication NYSDOT is coordinating with multiple agencies involved in the Lower with temporary Manhattan reconstruction effort. For example, we are working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is pedestrian bridges, Safer crossing at Chambers Street in charge of constructing the September 11 Memorial and Museum, 1 World broadened the Trade Center, and the Vehicle Security Center, an underground facility at Liberty sidewalks and crossings, and converted parking lots Street that will screen vehicles entering the area. We’re coordinating our work to green spaces. on the frontage of the World Financial Center, as well as modifications to the We’ve planted 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 more than Brookfield Properties, owners of the World Financial Center, and with Goldman 400 new trees, Sachs, whose headquarters is now located on West Street (Route 9A). constructed a promenade from Raising West West Thames to Street We are Battery Park, and raising the grade of built a new West the highway to match Trees at Murray Street Thames Park. that of the Memorial. We’ve shifted the This is a particularly roadway 30 to 50 feet westward to make room for a challenging task as Southbound West Street broad sidewalk in front of the National September (grade already raised) West Street was built 11 Memorial and on landfill and has Museum and for compressible soils. the World Trade To make sure the Center (WTC) soils don’t settle and damage the utilities beneath the highway (due to the added weight of the fill), we slurry wall—the are excavating some of the original soil and replacing it with greater quantities of WTC’s “bathtub” lightweight fill. For every 3.4 feet of original soil that is excavated, we can substitute foundation, which 9 feet of lightweight fill without increasing the total weight. holds back the waters of the Building the Way to the Memorial In preparation for South Promenade Hudson River— 9/11/11 and the opening of the Memorial, NYSDOT is building a walkway to and and new buildings from the site, which has required us to shift West Street farther west. The walkway such as 1 WTC (formerly the Freedom Tower). will be accessible from Greenwich and Albany Streets and proceed to Cedar Street But most of the current work of our project (below right) and underneath the Liberty Street pedestrian bridge (below left), is beneath the surface or behind the scenes. In occupying the right lane of preparation for the tenth anniversary of September northbound West Street. 11, we’re in the The entry point to the process of raising Memorial will be from West the grade of the Street at Liberty Street. 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 New Left Because of the maintaining work above, we’ve removed the West Thames Park playground surface traffic—for option of making a left turn at pedestrians, Liberty Street from northbound bicyclists, and about 5,000 vehicles an hour—as West Street. Instead, vehicles must well as access to the adjacent construction sites. make the turn at Albany Street.

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World WEST STREET Lower Manhattan Redevelopment SummerFinancial 2011 Center

The Project Today Continued from page 1 What’s Going On

A Hidden World 1 WTCWFC The West West Street lies atop Thames Park Vesey Bridge National the most complex network PATH Tube September 11 lawn was Memorial of utilities in the City. This 2 WFC reopenedSOUTH END AVE on spaghetti-like maze (see August 15, diagram, right) includes Haul Road WTC Slurry Wall 2011. 1 World WTC-WFC PassagewayWest Street Financial scores of sewers, water Center mains, electric, gas, and Work Zone 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 Bicycle Route Detour 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 Legend Financial Center. Add the historic Hudson River bulkhead and landfill soils—not to mention the need to coordinate Bike Path Open Bike Path Closed the work of multiple AVE END NORTH Street Detour contractors who share a Esplanade Detour crowded work zone—and you have one of the most 1 WFCWTC complicated construction 2 & 3 National World WEST STREET Vesey St Bridge Financial projects in the country. September 11 Center Memorial Coordinating and 2 WFC PATH Tube ConstructionWest Street Road Accelerating the WTC Slurry Wall Redevelopment of WTC-WFC PassagewayWest Street Lower Manhattan The construction work on West Street next to the July 20, 2011

WTC site has been staged Photo courtesy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey SOUTHEND AVE to facilitate and expedite 1 World the numerous revitalization projects being done by other agencies and owners, which total over $20 billion throughout Financial Lower Manhattan. NYSDOT is coordinating with multiple agencies involved in the reconstruction effort. Center 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 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 ecause of the ongoing construction of the underground extended it to Cedar Street. NYSDOT’s fast-track construction of the bridge extension—we completed in six months Bpassageway between the and what usually takes two years or more—made it possible for the Port Authority’s work on the Vehicle Security Center to the Winter Garden, the portion of the Route 9A (West Bike Path Open progress at the same time that the Deutsche Bank Building, which was next to the security center site, was being Street) bicycle/pedestrian between Liberty and Vesey Streets has been closed. You haveBike Patha choice Closed of two detours (see demolished. We’ve constructed and/or reconstructed the large water pipes (see story Street Detour map above): using the lower levelEsplanade of the Detour Battery below) leading to and from the Hudson River that will cool many of the structures Park City Esplanade along the Hudson River on the site, accelerating the construction and completing it over a year ahead of to go around the World Financial Center, or a schedule. We’ve also designed and constructed a temporary water supply system, the street route. To reach the Esplanade from West fire hydrants required by the NYC Fire Department for each project, and temporary Street, head west, following sewers that collect stormwater the arrows and white circles runoff from the Memorial site and with a bicyclist symbol (right); Fulton Street. for the street route, follow the We’ve worked together to devise bicyclist symbol at left. 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 We Want to Hear from You that living with continual construction is a challenge. o learn about traffic detours and other construction- Trelated changes in the neighborhood, please sign up for our public advisories by emailing us at [email protected]. In Addition to Reconstructing West Street... ny.us. You may also learn about the ongoing construction by Our office is in charge of administering funds under the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) emergency relief attending our monthly Stakeholders’ Committee meetings, program implemented after September 11. These funds were allocated to the repair and reconstruction of local streets held every third Friday of the month at 10:30 AM in the south of Canal Street that suffered significant damage or required major rebuilding as a result of the attacks and the recov- offices of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command ery operations. Of the $132 million allocated for these local roads, we have released $63 million for reconstruction so far. Center, 1 Liberty Plaza, 20th floor. These meetings describe The office is also responsible for issuing permits to other agencies and entities that want to do any construction on the NYSDOT construction work in the area for the coming West Street, from Battery Place to 59th Street, and for all emergency repairs, maintenance, and safety improvements month and what was accomplished in the previous one. along that stretch. I am proud that our team’s constant coordination and communications, good decisions, and consistent follow- Contact Us through have lessened the impacts of construction on the people of Lower Manhattan, and have helped to streamline many of our adjacent WTC projects. Route 9A/Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Project New York State Department of Transportation 115 Broadway, Suite 1701 New York, NY 10006 Did You Know Questions or comments? Call our Community Liaison at 1-800-714-0454 Staying Cool ? he Hudson River will cool and dehumidify the new National September Email: [email protected] T11 Memorial and Museum. Four large underground pipes—some 42" and Please visit our website: www.route9a.info 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 State of New York underneath the Memorial. The river water will be used to chill the air supply, helping to cool the buildings on the site, Andrew M. Cuomo including the visitors’ center and museum, as well as the underground passageway to the World Financial Center. Governor 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 New York State Department of Transportation pipes were partly destroyed during the September 11 attacks. The new pipes Joan McDonald are much better for the environment, using only 24 percent of the maximum Commissioner water flow of the original system. Marie Corrado, Esq. A NYSDOT contractor removed the damaged lines and relocated their Major Projects Director replacements on a former WTC ramp, completing the task in one year. Route 9A The work is part of a cooperative effort by NYSDOT and the Port Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Office Authority to identify work that can be performed sooner, more quickly, and Joseph T. Brown, P.E. less expensively. Director