The MTA’s program to replace elevators at three subway stations in Brooklyn and Manhattan is months behind an already extended deadline and spending almost double the original budget, agency documents show.
The project has come under scrutiny after a slew of breakdowns involving the three newly installed lifts at the Clark Street station in Brooklyn Heights — which have broken down and trapped riders heading to the 2 and 3 lines at least a dozen times in recent months.
The elevators are the only way to get to the mezzanine leading to stairs down to the platform at the very deep Clark St. station.
“It sucks,” said museum worker Darci Overfelt. “Typically there is only one working. Sometimes there are so many people if you come at rush hour that you have to wait.”
Officials first decided to set aside $34 million in 2014 to replace eight elevators across four stations: Clark St., the nearby R-train station at Court Street, the F and Q train stop at 63rd/Lexington on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and the F-train stop on Roosevelt Island.
But documents suggested the design work would not get underway for four more years, until 2018 — and the price tag had already grown by more than a quarter, to $43.5 million, according to updates contained in charts filed with the board.
Now, the project’s budget will hit at least $56 million and the contractor, Forte Construction, will miss the deadline for completing the work, which had already been extended to January.
Agency officials pointed the finger at Forte in a short missive that was published before Christmas.
“The contractor has been deficient in supplying the contract-required documents to move items to completion. In addition, the new elevator sub-contractor involved needs to expedite documentation efforts and work completion,” the dense paragraph reads. “The team has been putting extra pressure on the contractor to mitigate further schedule delays.”
The problems vexing this elevator replacement effort echo the challenges the agency has faced on other projects large and small: ballooning costs, frequent delays and reliability struggles, which, in this case, has left riders trapped.
The delays appear to be the worst at Court Street, which is connected to the larger Borough Hall 2, 3, 4, 5 station, where there has been little visible progress in weeks and the construction sheds continue to block of portions of bustling Montague Street.
Two construction workers who spoke to The Post said neither knew when the project was going to be completed and both seemed exasperated.
“It’s almost done but they keep changing the plans,” said one.
A MTA spokesman confirmed that the program had been expanded to cover some renovations at the stations, including ceiling work.
“Clark Street station and three others needed elevator upgrades to improve safety and reliability — which they will do — with no increase to budget since the contract was awarded,” said the MTA representative, Sean Butler.
The examination of the elevator project comes just days after a reporter for a non-profit news organization, The City, got trapped in an elevator at Clark Street. The scribe’s experience was not a one off, according to fellow straphangers and MTA data.
Agency data clocked 11 entrapments at the three elevators between when the station reopened in May — after a 6-month station shutdown for their installation — and December.
“They were shut down for several months and literally the first week they opened they were already having problems,” said Shirley Ruiz, a 30-year-old dog walker. “They were rebuilding them. The first week we were allowed to use them, it went downhill from there.”
Forte did not return a requests for comment.
– Additional reporting by Post photographer Gabby Bass
