MTA breaks ground for entryway to new LIRR terminal

East Side Access just got a lot more in-your-face.

Seven years after heavy construction began on the $10.1 billion megaproject in midtown Manhattan, the MTA Tuesday broke ground on the first stage of work that will be highly visible to commuters.

The agency is punching a large hole in the floor of Grand Central Terminal's dining concourse to one day accommodate two escalators and a stairway that will go down 180 feet to the Long Island Rail Road's future tracks at the station.

Despite being considered the largest transit infrastructure project underway in the U.S., East Side Access has, until now, kept a low public profile. Most of the Manhattan work has taken place underneath Metro-North's operation and Grand Central, and most of the work on the Queens side has happened at a Long Island City rail yard.

The latest stage of the project necessitated closing off a 1,920-square-foot public area in Grand Central and relocating 140 chairs and 44 tables. The work in the dining concourse is expected to last up to 18 months.

"We are not really impacting the customers here. We have enclosed this area. We've relocated the tables. And the services around here will continue the same way," Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Construction president Michael Horodniceanu said at a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday. "I am very hopeful that we will continue to be as stealthy as possible going forward."

Pegged for completion in late 2022, East Side Access promises to transport more than 160,000 LIRR customers a day to a new, 10-block-long customer concourse at Grand Central, saving them up to 40 minutes a day in their commute. MTA officials have also said freeing up some capacity at Penn Station will allow Metro-North to run some trains there as well.

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

"This is a complete game-changer in terms of what it means to the Long Island Rail Road," said LIRR president Patrick Nowakowski. "One day we'll be cutting a blue ribbon here. But this is a milestone and a step to getting there."

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.