The Port Authority of New York and NJ (PANY&NJ) issued a press release on Friday, June 30, 2017, announcing that the elevator and vertical life at the Grove Street PATH station had finally opened.
The $4,000,000 elevator, ordered by a federal judge in 2011, took two years to construct and finally gave PATH riders in wheelchairs away to access the station. The judge told PANY&NJ to make the PATH station accessible to people in wheelchairs after groups representing the disabled sued the bi-state agency.
"After mechanical adjustment during the first weekend, the elevator and lift have been working well and service generally has remained constant," said Port Authority spokesman Scott Ladd. "The new system is an asset not only to customers who require physical assistance, but to others who also may have difficulty maneuvering the stairs, such as those with young children, strollers, bicycles, bags or luggage."
The elevator takes PATH riders from the corner of Grove Street and Columbus Drive to the station's mezzanine. After buying a ticket, riders can take the lift down to the platform. To use the lift, you must hold a button for the length of the trip, which takes one minute and ten seconds.
Ladd said a lift was installed instead of an elevator because of "the station's limited height and physical restrictions." "It was not possible to accommodate a regular elevator running from street level directly to the platform without major impacts to Columbus Drive," Ladd said.
