MTA VIA DUCT South Phase 1

The Park Avenue Viaduct Replacement Project is a major infrastructure initiative led by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Metro-North Railroad to modernize one of the most critical transportation corridors in the region. The Park Avenue Viaduct, originally constructed over 130 years ago, carries four Metro-North Railroad tracks between East 110th Street and the Harlem River Lift Bridge, serving the busy Harlem–125th Street Station and providing direct access to Grand Central Terminal. Phase 1of the project replaces the segment between East 115th Street and East 123rd Street. This elevated structure supports 98% of all Metro-North train traffic, moving more than 220,000 customers on a typical weekday. Because of its age and essential role, the Viaduct is now undergoing a carefully phased replacement to ensure it remains safe, reliable, and resilient for decades to come.

The work is being completed in phases to minimize community and service impacts. Phase 1, from East 115th Street to East 123rd Street, began in 2023 and was completed in in October of 2025, including replacement of steel spans, foundations, and integrated track, power, and signal systems. HDG steel was required, in part, due to numerous feedback from the community on their desire to lighten up the existing brown. This was discussed extensively with New York Stat Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and after an exhaustive investigation process, SHPO approved the use of hot dip galvanized steel as it also was similar to the original PAV from the 1890s. There is also a big maintenance savings using HDG as well as an environmentally friendly advantage to HDG. Halmar International, the project’s design-build contractor, replaced 8,240 feet of aging track along the Park Avenue Viaduct through the installation of 128 new prefabricated bridge sections all while keeping Metro-North Railroad service operational. The construction approach, developed collaboratively during the design-build procurement phase with the MTA, allowed the contractor to propose innovative methods that avoided extended service shutdowns and enabled multiple work phases to advance simultaneously. Central to the operation was a custom gantry system spanning Park Avenue, including three 60-foot-tall 200 ton Mi-Jack gantries used to remove deteriorated steel and concrete deck segments and set new bridge units into place. Work was completed over 19 weekend outages beginning in June 2024, allowing two tracks at a time to be taken out of service while maintaining active rail operations on the other two adjacent tracks to keep the track operational. The overall project is currently tracking 51 months ahead of schedule and $93 million under budget, achieved by strong teamwork among multiple companies collaborating, planning, and executing throughout the project, while maintaining continuous commuter service and minimizing disruption to Metro-North riders.