A rendering of a central atrium for the bus terminal on 41st Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues.
After years of stops and starts, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Wednesday put shovels in the ground on a $10-billion project to transform Midtown's notoriously run-down bus terminal into a spacious, modern travel hub.
The project will reimagine the 41st Street facility between Eighth and 10th avenues with gleaming new structures that will expand the bus terminal’s capacity, add ground-floor retail and a new park on Dyer Avenue.
A new main terminal building on Eighth Avenue will come with five stories for buses to travel in and out of, while a building on 40th Street between Ninth and 10th avenues will store as many as 350 buses — up from the current 50 — to keep coaches from clogging local streets.
The existing, 74-year-old bus terminal was not only designed for fewer travelers but smaller buses. Modern buses are typically 45 feet long and 102 inches wide, which can cause operational issues at the current terminal. Serving bigger buses more efficiently means more space and bigger structures. To that end, a sprawling new helix-shaped ramp will connect Lincoln Tunnel to the bus terminal, stretching the existing footprint of the facility along 40th Street to 10th and 11th avenues.
The new storage building, ramps and park space are set to be complete by 2028, while the main terminal building is expected to be operational by 2032, according to the Port Authority.
Paying for the project is no easy task. The Port Authority wants to sell rights to a developer to build two skyscrapers over the main terminal on Eighth Avenue. Revenue from a third tower will also support the project; that building will be built on Port Authority-owned land bounded by West 30th and West 31st streets and ninth and 10th avenues near the Lincoln Tunnel.
The Adams administration agreed last year to commit 40 years of property tax revenue from the would-be commercial towers — up to $2 billion — to help finance the new bus terminal. Another $1.9 billion to pay for the project is coming from a loan awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation in January. The Port Authority intends to foot the remainder of the bill.
