Port Authority Bus Terminal ramp work starts Thursday: what changes for bus riders

Starting Thursday, Oct. 15, trips through the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown will be slower. That day, crews start tearing out the ramps that carry buses from the Lincoln Tunnel up into the 75-year-old building.

The demolition starts the next construction phase of the Port Authority’s $11 billion replacement of the terminal, which serves 200,000 bus riders a day.

New bus route via West 39th Street and 10th Avenue

Once the old ramps come down, buses coming in from New Jersey will follow a loop. They will turn onto West 39th Street, cross to 10th Avenue and take a different ramp up to the terminal’s gates. The agency says riders should expect delays and lines of backed-up buses during weekday rush hours, with no end date given.

Drivers will feel it too. Along West 39th Street, car access will be restricted to local residents and people employed nearby.

Port Authority Bus Terminal rebuild timeline

Thursday’s work is only the first stage of disruption that is expected to last at least nine more years. In phase one, the Port Authority will build new ramps, a storage facility, a new ramp structure and a temporary bus facility. It hopes to move operations into that facility by the end of 2030. Phase two is the new terminal building itself, which the agency aims to open to riders in 2035.

The agency says the finished terminal will handle more buses and add new shops and places to eat. It will also connect to new roadways meant to ease congestion in the neighborhood and make it easier to reach the subway station below.

Riders at the terminal Tuesday welcomed the rebuild but worried about the years of construction. Williams Barnes, 57, called the current building run down and pointed to its poor bathrooms. “I’m kind of bummed that I’ll probably be retired when it’s done,” he said. Joseph Guevara, 32, commutes from New Jersey to a 6 a.m. start as a tile and marble installer. He said the changes will make him late and leave him unsure whether he will keep his job.