Bronx residents will have a chance to comment on the MTA’s 2025-2029 capital plan at one of the agency’s first open houses since the state approved congestion pricing.
The MTA will hold the open house about its capital-project-packed budget in the Bronx on Monday, Dec. 16, from 3 to 6 p.m. The meeting, to be held at the Bronx Library Center at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd., is part of an ongoing series of open houses throughout the city that provide information about upcoming priority transit projects.
The $68.4 billion capital plan, which is noticeably more expensive than the MTA’s previous $54.8 billion plan from 2020-2024, includes funding for construction, maintenance and repair work.
Capital projects in the Bronx
In the Bronx, capital projects include upgrading facilities such as better train accessibility, the 240 Street Yard, deploying hundreds more electric buses and investing in improvements to the Dyre and Pelham train lines.
“Our next Capital Plan will provide the Bronx with ADA improvements, new escalators and elevators, state of good repair work throughout the borough, and more,” MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer said. “By investing in the Bronx and delivering the work better, faster, and cheaper than ever before, we’ll ensure the entire region can rely on great public transit for generations to come.”
Citywide, the MTA’s capital plan involves investing in the metro area’s subways, buses, railroads, bridges and tunnels over the next five years.
Meanwhile, the agency has more specific priority projects that it says will be paid for by the controversial congestion pricing program. These projects include more elevators and other accessibility improvements at subway stations, modernizing near-century-old subway signals that often break down, newer railcars, and work on the Second Avenue Subway extension to East Harlem.
Plans for Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North, which saw over 60 million riders in 2023, will also be a focus of the Bronx open house. Replacing the rolling stock fleet of locomotives that go to Poughkeepsie, Southeast, Danbury and Waterbury with newer 4,200 horsepower trains is a “major priority” for the 2025-2029 capital plan.
Last month, the MTA unveiled two of its eventual fleet of 33 new locomotives. The agency said the first two trains are currently undergoing testing and are expected to be placed into passenger service in early 2025.
“State of good repair investments are essential to ensuring safe and reliable service for years to come for Metro-North customers in the Bronx and throughout the region,” Metro-North Railroad president Catherine Rinaldi said. “Metro-North continues to see strong ridership growth within the Bronx, and City Ticket has attracted even more riders to our system.
Rinaldi added that she will discuss at the Bronx open house other planned investments in the borough, which include upcoming Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)-work at the Botanical Garden, Woodlaw and Williams Bridge, and the construction of new stations as part of the Penn Access project — a planned extension of Metro-North’s New Haven Line to Penn Station in Manhattan.
