by themallard
By Tom StabileMcGraw Hill Construction
Infrastructure designers and contractors around New York endured a tense wait for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's new capital program to take shape last year, but the bumpy ride may have been worth it. The MTA's subsidiaries have since unleashed dozens of projects, including major jobs to expand the region's transit capacity.
The logjam broke after New York's state legislature and Gov. George Pataki agreed to fund a $21.2 billion 2005-09 capital program for the MTA last year. Voter approval of a $2.9 billion transportation bond on the ballot last November provided an extra boost, said Mysore Nagaraja, president of the MTA's Capital Construction Co., which oversees large-budget efforts, including two - East Side Access and the Second Avenue Subway - that split $900 million from the referendum...