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Queens 7-train riders will have to endure another five months of detours and closures after station repairs were expanded — as the project’s price tag soared to $254 million.
The repairs are now expected to finish in March of next year rather than Oct. 20 — nearly five months later than previously planned — with new work adding $2.8 million to the massive project that originally was anticipated to cost $217 million, according to MTA documents.
Rail inspectors found 22 more deteriorated sections of the steel beams supporting the Flushing-bound platforms at the 52nd Street and 69th Street stations, the MTA documents said.
A spokesperson for the MTA said crews can’t always tell how badly steel has deteriorated until workers open up the structure during construction.
Earlier changes to the project had already added $34.5 million to the repair contract’s original $217 million price tag. The latest increase would bring the project’s repair bill to $254.4 million — about 17% above the original price tag.
MTA documents said those changes were in part because of “the direct costs of resequencing the work and ten months of impact costs.”
Riders will have to stick with the detours they’ve faced since May, with Flushing-bound trains now skipping both stations until January.
Passengers heading to either stop must ride past the stop, switch to a Manhattan-bound train and double back.
Those passengers leaving the stations toward Flushing must first travel toward Manhattan before switching directions.
