L.K. Comstock & Company Inc., an electrical contractor subsidiary of RailWorks Corporation, was awarded a $223.3 million contract by the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) to modernize the existing signaling system and install a new communications-based train control (CBTC) system on the Queens Boulevard Line. The contract includes all of the signal systems upgrades, CBTC installation and new systems work.
Work will begin on the project in January 2017 and extends 55 months with an expected completion date in the fall of 2021. Work will take place starting in Jamaica, Queens, and extending under Queens Boulevard to 8th Avenue and 50th Street on the west side of Manhattan. Comstock is responsible for installing new signal, communications, fiber-optic and CBTC systems as well as track on the mostly four-track system.
Comstock will also be responsible for building new signal rooms, modifying existing facilities and upgrading systems to ensure connectivity with the CBTC system. Included in the contract is constructing and extending fiber backbone support to perform health and system tests on the CBTC rail stock in all the ancillary yards and facilities that support the Queens Boulevard Line.
RailWorks Transit, a subsidiary of RailWorks Corporation, will serve as a subcontractor to perform related track and civil work on the Queens Boulevard Line.
L.K. Comstock has installed CBTC on the MTA's current Flushing Line and has completed Canarsie Line CBTC signal modernization projects.