Rising construction costs could slow big MTA projects

Increasing construction costs could lead to the ambitious plans for a glass-domed subway station in Lower Manhattan being scrapped and slow major projects like the Long Island Rail Road link to Grand Central Terminal, the westward expansion of the No. 7 subway line and the Second Avenue subway. “We’re just in the middle of a construction inflation crisis,’ said H. Dale Hemmerdinger, the authority’s chairman. “And from our point of view as an agency that spends an awful lot of money, this is not good news.” He said cost increases were driven by price spikes for basic materials, including steel and concrete.