9/24/25 | Climate Week Tour: The Times Square Shuttle Project MTA’s 1st Envision Certified Project

WBC Member Host: Sara Margolis, Dewberry

Time: 3pm - 4pm

Client: MTA, led by Kate Aglitsky, Sustainability Director at MTA Construction and Development, and Tom Abdallah, Vice President Environmental Services & Chief Environmental Engineer at MTA Construction and Development New York City. Coordinated with Dewberry’s Sara Margolis and JP Liban.

The Times Square Shuttle project in the Midtown Manhattan area of New York City earned an Envision Verified Award for its efforts to deliver sustainable, equitable, and resilient outcomes. The project was developed to reconstruct the existing Times Square / Grand Central (42nd Street) Station and address deficiencies affecting operations, circulation, and customer safety.

The reconstruction involved converting shuttle operations from three tracks down to two, which included widening the associated platforms; reconfiguring the column framing, stairways, control areas, and signal systems; adding a removable platform bridge with an underpass; installing new safety railings and turnstiles; and rehabilitating architectural, structural, electrical, mechanical, fire, and communication systems.

To recognize the project’s commitment to sustainability, the team adopted the Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Framework, which was created to promote more sustainable, resilient, and equitable infrastructure development. Envision consisted of 64 sustainability and resiliency indicators (called credits) organized into five categories: Quality of Life, Leadership, Resource Allocation, Natural World, and Climate and Resilience. These categories and credits collectively addressed materials, energy, conservation, community development, planning, collaboration, human well-being, mobility, and more.