How long does it take to build a train station?
No, that's not the beginning of some riddle. There's no punch line coming.
Unless you think there's something funny about the delays that have plagued the construction of new Staten Island Railway stations.
We're talking primarily about the long-delayed reconstruction of the Grasmere train station, which has been hit with yet another postponement.
Repairs to the station began back in May of 2012, and were scheduled to be completed by April of the following year.
But nothing is ever that easy when it comes to transit on Staten Island, it seems.
Issues with the station's staircase, with inclement weather and with changing Department of Environmental Protection regulations and other issues have pushed the completion date back by 31 months.
We'll insert the obligatory reference here: The Empire State Building was built in 13 months, as former Borough President James Molinaro always liked to remind us when talking about government's overall inefficiency and its inability to properly manage infrastructure projects.
In June of 2014, the MTA informed the Advance that the Grasmere station's staircase would have to be replaced, something that the authority had not foreseen would be necessary.
That long staircase is one of the most eye-catching features of the Grasmere station. Who is to blame for the fact that the staircase apparently wasn't examined as part of the overall scoping-out of the repair job?
Then in April of 2015, it was announced that changes had to be made to the station's water hookup because of new DEP regulations. A Consolidated Edison electrical feeder has also had to be relocated, contributing to further delays.
The station was set to open this August. Now that's been pushed back to November. Some real estate issues have also crept into the mix, according to the most recent story in the Advance.
Delays, delays, delays.
All this to build a simple railroad stationhouse with a waiting room and some bathrooms, security cameras and heating and air conditioning systems.
Is it really that complicated?
While all this reconstruction has been going on, the sidewalk on Clove Road has been partially blocked off because of the project. Commuters have been able to access an alternate Grasmere train platform via a temporary staircase across Clove Road, but the platform only accommodates the first three cars of the trains. Not an ideal situation.
And when it's all over, the new train platform won't even be handicap-accessible, even though there will be a ramp to the new stationhouse. The MTA had decided that building an elevator wouldn't be possible.
The Grasmere station isn't the only SIR facility that's facing challenges.
In Tottenville, the MTA is building an Arthur Kill train station to replace the smaller and aging Atlantic and Nassau SIR stations.
But this project hasn't gone smoothly either. Ground was broken in October of 2013 and was set to be finished by the end of this year. But that's now been pushed back to next April.
The MTA said that more time was needed to put storm resiliency measures in place at the new station. Which is all well and good. Hurricane Sandy taught us a lot about hardening our infrastructure, particularly our mass transit systems.
But seeing as the big storm hit us back at the end of 2012, it begs the question why such resiliency measures hadn't been baked into the cake from the outset. Surely it surprised nobody that a new transit station would need to be storm-resistent.
Arthur Kill is the first new station being built for the SIR in at least four decades. Many of the stations were built between 1880 and 1920. So it's about time that the railway got some serious attention. It would be all that much better if things were proceeding more smoothly.
The new Arthur Kill station should be a jewel of the system when completed. The design includes plans for an enclosed pedestrian overpass, canopies and benches, two entrances, and wheelchair-accessible ramps. There will be customer-assistance intercoms in off-hours waiting areas.
South Shore residents have one of the worst commutes in the country. Any improvement is welcome. The Arthur Kill station must not face the repeated delays that have plagued the Grasmere station.
And the MTA must get its act together and push the Grasmere station over the finish line as well. The project has gone on long enough. More delays would be inexcusable.
If we want to keep cars off the road, we must provide commuters with mass transit options. Finishing up the Grasmere and Arthur Kill rail projects would be a good place to start.