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White Plains OKs Contract To Design Major New Downtown Tranportation Center

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- The White Plains Common Council on Monday unanimously authorized the city to sign a contract to design a new Multimodal Transportation Center at the Metro-North train station and bus terminals.

People wait in line at the Metro-North train station in White Plains. Parsons Brinckerhoff is being hired for $794, 214 by the City of White Plains to plan and design a new Multimodal Transportation Center near the train station and bus terminals.

People wait in line at the Metro-North train station in White Plains. Parsons Brinckerhoff is being hired for $794, 214 by the City of White Plains to plan and design a new Multimodal Transportation Center near the train station and bus terminals.

Photo Credit: Patrick Stapleton

The $794,214 contract with Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. is for preliminary planning, design and engineering services.

"With this authorization, we now begin our work on a revitalized, reimagined White Plains Multimodal Transportation Center,'' Mayor Thomas Roach said in a press statement. "I am excited to get started and with the assistance of the world class firm. . . . I am confident that we are going to come out of this process ready to move into design and construction."

Parsons Brinckerhoff, which merged with WSP, is considered one of the world's leading engineering firms. It was one of eight companies that submitted design proposals to the city.

Preliminary design, planning and engineering work for the redeveloped city transit center will be paid out of a $1 million Cleaner Greener Communities grant by the New York State Energy Research Development Authority, according to Karen Pasquale, the mayor's senior advisor.

The city's goal is to complete this process within one year "with a visionary, yet realistic, strategy for redevelopment,'' Roach said.

This includes:

-- Reassessing the city's Metro-North station so that it functions more efficiently for all users and integrates a myriad of transit services while creating a more welcoming and dynamic place.

-- Reestablishing the transit district, the area immediately around the station, by creating more pedestrian-scale streets, transit-supported land uses -- both commercial and residential -- as well as "engaging public spaces."

-- Strengthening the links and connections between the transit district and the downtown core of White Plains.

-- Strategic planning to help identify early opportunities that include identifying potential funding sources and funding priorities.

As part of its contract, Parsons Brinckerhoff is expected to create a transit center "stakeholder task force" that will hold six meetings, two public hearings and create a project website.

Mayor Roach said he looks forward to the opportunities built into the process for public engagement and dialogue, adding: "This is a project that will impact all White Plains residents and businesses and a project which has the potential to be truly transformative for our city.”

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