Local-Motion

The phrase "sinking money into a hole in the ground" has long been used to describe waste, futility and utter disregard for prudent economics. Not this time. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, capitalized by state and federal funding, is sinking about $6.3 billion into a hole in the ground that will eventually run from Sunnyside, Queens, to midtown Manhattan. And it couldn't be money better spent. For the price, the MTA -- and the Long Island Rail Road -- will get new train tunnels with direct access to Grand Central Terminal. Called East Side Access, the project will allow about 160,000 passengers a day to travel to Grand Central and the east side of Manhattan, instead of being forced to travel to Penn Station and then walk or take the subway back across to the East Side. This will save each of these commuters hours of commuting time each week. The tunnel is far from complete. In fact, the project won't be finished until 2013 -- and access won't be finalized until 2014. But when it's done, East Side Access will be the biggest improvement to the LIRR since the introduction of the electric fleet. It will be a huge step forward and a long-awaited one, since the project was first proposed in the 1960s. But the digging of the tunnels under Manhattan -- and the work on East Side Access -- just proves one other saying: Better late than never.