By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — The price of the new white-winged PATH hub at the World Trade Center may soar yet again, to $3.8 billion, The Record reported Monday.
A federal monitoring agency found that the cost of the Santiago Calatrava-designed station will likely continue swelling from the Port Authority's most recent estimate of $3.44 billion, The Record reported.
The Federal Transit Administration's risk-assessment study for the station says that the Port Authority's $3.44 billion budget "still does not appear adequate for the ultimate completion of the project," according to The Record.
The FTA report says that the new $3.8 billion estimate is based on discussions with Port Authority staff.
A Port Authority spokesman said Monday that the agency remains confident in its $3.44 billion budget for the project.
However, at the February meeting where the Port Authority approved the most recent cost increases for the hub, Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward warned that the station's price could continue to rise, because the agency had not yet awarded 6 percent of the construction contracts.
At that meeting, several Port Authority commissioners expressed concerns about the price increases, but they ultimately approved the spending.
The 800,000-square-foot station, which will serve roughly 250,000 commuters a day and link more than a dozen Subway lines with the PATH station, was originally supposed to cost $2.2 billion.
The FTA report also found that the construction of the hub is running about three months behind schedule, and it will likely open in March 2015 rather than by the end of 2014, The Record reported.
The FTA did not immediately release the report to DNAinfo on Monday, but the agency said in a statement that the Port Authority may still be able to meet its $3.44 billion budget if it "properly manages" the risks facing the project.
