Washington, D.C. — Today, United States Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced
a $7 million U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grant for the Charleston
Bus Annex Project on Staten Island. The
grant will be used to expand the MTA’s space for parking, servicing, and
maintaining buses. Staten Island currently has
only two other garages to maintain busses and are running extremely low on
space.
“This is great news for Staten Island commuters,”
said Schumer. “For many Staten Islanders busses are their lifeline to
work. These federal dollars will go a long way in providing the necessary
infrastructure and space improvements to keep public transportation on Staten Island running smoothly for years to come.”
“This investment is essential to the City’s goal of enhancing mass
transit for the thousands of Staten Islanders who depend on safe, reliable bus
service every day,” said Senator Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee. “The Charleston Annex will help relieve
overcrowding at Staten Island’s two other bus maintenance facilities, and will
continue our mission of reducing traffic and congestion in one of New York
City’s fastest growing boroughs.”
The Charleston Bus Annex Project has been 30 years in the making and
expected to be completed by the end of this year or the middle of 2010,
depending on permit delays. The annex is necessary to expand the MTA’s space
for parking and storing buses. When the project is finished, the 87,000 square
foot building will be able to service and maintain about 200 buses.