Creating opportunities for all: How infrastructure helps communities thrive – Blog

With our longstanding history dating back nearly a century and completed projects large and small, our roots in New York and New Jersey run deep, as does our commitment to improving the lives of the people who live here.

We have delivered some of this region’s most transformative projects — like the New Jersey Turnpike widening, the Lower Passaic River restoration and New York City’s Green Infrastructure Program — projects that provide long-lasting benefits by reshaping our transportation networks, strengthening our water systems and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

These and many other AECOM projects were implemented through our multidisciplinary capabilities as advisors, planners, designers, engineers and innovators. But they are ultimately successful due to our focus on building collaborative relationships with our clients, reaching out to project stakeholders and local residents and listening to their needs, and providing holistic evaluations and assessments before we even begin developing solutions. Our work modernizing New York Penn Station exemplifies the impact of our integrated, whole systems approach. We identified and addressed our client’s need for maximizing space at the underground station by innovatively raising the ceiling to significantly improve the experience for passengers moving through the transit hub, the busiest in the Western Hemisphere.   

Recently, we played an integral role completing other landmark transportation projects, including the instantly iconic Grand Central Madison Terminal. This new terminal brings direct Long Island Rail Road service to Manhattan’s East Side, reducing travel time and encouraging economic development. In New Jersey, the 1-million-square-foot, 33-gate Terminal A elevates air travel at Newark Liberty Airport with enhanced amenities and conveniences.

Because we live and work in communities across this region, we appreciate how better futures begin with improved opportunities. We partnered with Middlesex College and Middlesex County, in central New Jersey, to bridge the gap between gown and town by developing the Middlesex College Community, Innovation and Opportunity Strategic Master Plan, a transformative investment strategy that aligns with Middlesex County’s Destination 2040 Strategic Plan. Together, these plans lay the foundation for shared spaces that allow the campus and community to learn, live and grow, while furthering the area as a science and technology hub and enhancing career opportunities.

Another of our higher education projects, the recently opened STEM Center at Suffolk County Community College on Long Island, New York, also presents new employment possibilities — even as it helps address the increasingly urgent need for action on climate change. The net-zero building and teaching facility provides a hands-on experience in managing renewable energy systems, expanding options for students entering this emerging industry while encouraging the use of renewables across Long Island.

We continue to shape our neighborhoods and build sustainable legacies for generations to come with the launch of several recent and noteworthy projects. We are teaming with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to develop an energy carbon neutrality plan that will offset energy release at its 14 wastewater treatment plants and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent agency-wide by 2050. We’re taking the next step in our work with Middlesex County by leading the redevelopment of the historic New Brunswick Train Station, a critical gateway on the Northeast Corridor that will improve mobility and enable the county to continue fostering its economic development. Our ongoing work at JFK Airport, including the New Terminal One and Terminals 4, 6 and 8, is making air travel more comfortable and convenient. We are also building vital redundancy into our water networks through the Kensico Third Conveyance Tunnel in upstate New York.

With the next wave of groundbreaking projects on the horizon, we remain focused on the future — matching our best-in-class expertise and resources to implement solutions that improve the lives of the people today, while providing better living for tomorrow.