Port Authority set to approve $117.5M fix for the Trans-Manhattan Expressway after falling debris hit cars

The Port Authority is preparing a $117.5 million overhaul of the Trans-Manhattan Expressway, the sunken, partly covered stretch of highway in Washington Heights where falling debris struck drivers twice in May. The agency's board is scheduled to vote on the project at its meeting Thursday, and Gothamist first reported the plan Wednesday.

The expressway runs about 0.8 miles beneath buildings in Upper Manhattan and connects the George Washington Bridge's lower level to local streets and the Cross Bronx Expressway. It opened to drivers in the early 1960s.

What happened in May

On May 7, a piece of metal fell from the roadway's ceiling, and a driver who crashed into the debris caught the moment on camera. Six days later, a chunk of concrete fell onto a car and the driver was hospitalized, Gothamist reported. Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia has blamed months of freezing and thawing last winter for the deterioration. The agency made emergency repairs at the time.

What the board is being asked to approve

• Why now: the structural elements at the expressway level "have not undergone comprehensive rehabilitation since their original construction," the board documents say. Inspections after the May incidents found deficiencies requiring immediate repairs and led the agency to speed up rehab work it had planned for later.
• The work: repairs to concrete and steel in the overpasses, joints, piers, beams and soffits and some retaining walls; removal of the existing metal panel ceilings; and permanent protective mesh to catch overhead debris. Traffic would be maintained on the expressway and the bridge during construction.
• Timeline: design from late 2026 to the third quarter of 2027, then construction from the third quarter of 2027 to the third quarter of 2030.
• Cost breakdown: of the $117.5 million, $71.3 million is for a construction contract to be publicly advertised, $20.4 million for planning and design, $14.1 million for contingency and $11.7 million for agency costs. The board would also raise an existing design contract with Arora and Associates from $7.8 million to $12 million.
• Where the money comes from: four projects that had been slated for the second half of the agency's 2026-2035 capital plan, including $42.5 million earmarked to replace the ceiling over the expressway and $45.6 million for the next phase of overpass repairs.

A Port Authority spokesperson told Gothamist the agency could not comment before the board votes.

Part of a bigger GWB overhaul

Thursday's agenda includes several more George Washington Bridge items, among them rehab of the bridge's upper-level deck and the bus parking bridges over Broadway. They fall under "Restoring the George," a roughly $2 billion program to modernize the 95-year-old bridge, which recently reopened its rebuilt South Walk to pedestrians and cyclists.