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Inside the Midtown Bus Terminal rebuild: Decks over Lincoln Tunnel approach, a new park
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Oct 23, 2026 at 3:44 p.m. ET
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Ramsey Khalifeh / Gothamist
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Oct 23, 2026 at 3:44 p.m. ET
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Port Authority officials on Friday touted progress on a deck over a section of the Lincoln Tunnel entrance in Hell’s Kitchen that will be a key piece of the Midtown Bus Terminal's $11 billion rebuild.
The structure covers the spaghetti-like array of approach roads that run south of West 39th Street between Dyer and Ninth avenues. It’s set to be a storage area for buses while the existing terminal is demolished and rebuilt. But after the construction project wraps, the deck will be converted into a 3.5 acre public park.
The decision to add greenspace to the neighborhood was in large part prompted by demands from local community boards to improve living conditions around the terminal, said Steve Plate, the Port Authority's chief of major capital projects, who’s overseeing the rebuild. The facility, which is used by as many as 600 buses per hour, is among the busiest bus terminals in the world.
“If you look at what green space the [neighborhood had], it’s relatively limited,” Plate said. “This was a game-changer for them and they were very thrilled about it.”
The Port Authority's bus terminal rebuild will up end an entire stretch of Hell's Kitchen for the next decade.
Courtesy Port Authority
Plate said that the underlying infrastructure of the “deckover” space is three-quarters complete and will be done by the middle of next year.
The new park and terminal project are expected to wrap up in 2035.
During a tour of the construction site, Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia explained the agency is essentially building a bridge over the roadways that carry car traffic in and out of the Lincoln Tunnel.
The agency is propping up the deck with massive steel columns that weigh between 30 to 40 tons. Once the structure is complete, workers will pour concrete over the new deck.
Building the future park space is one of the first steps in a major construction effort, which is bound to cause disruptions for bus commuters in the region. Garcia said the bulk of the disruptions will occur in the project's early phase as the Port Authority reroutes buses entering and exiting the terminal.
Ramsey Khalifeh / Gothamist
The agency has deconstructed some of the bus terminal’s existing elevated ramps to make way for new ramp structures. Starting last week, buses entering the terminal on non-express bus lane buses during afternoon service began to be rerouted around to West 39th Street to access another ramp to get to the terminal’s gates.
A backlog of buses were waiting in a line to use the alternative ramp during the Port Authority’s tour of the construction site Friday. One bus driver was unable to make the sharp turn onto the ramp and had to back up, which held up traffic.
Garcia said any travel hiccups caused by the construction will be worthwhile because bus riders will get a shiny new station.
“We are doing this because we know that we can deliver an amazing experience … This is what we plan to bring when we finish completion of this $11 billion project, both functional and efficient, but also beautiful. We can do two things at the same time,” Garcia said. “It’ll be a real welcoming gateway.”
Tagged
manhattan
new york city
transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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