$32B OKd for Port Authority

THE PORT AUTHORITY approved a sweeping $32.2 billion capital plan for a host of big-buck construction projects on Thursday.

The 10-year blueprint includes a new bus terminal in Midtown to replace the decrepit and jampacked facility on Eighth Ave. at 42nd St.

“I’m very pleased ... to be moving ahead with this capital plan, and specifically the planning for the bus terminal, which is a critical project,” said Port Authority chairman John Degnan. “This work must begin as soon as possible.”

It is expected to cost $7 million, officials said. The first phase entails hiring environmental and technical consultants to “provide project management and planning services for the bus terminal replacement, and to evaluate interim solutions for the existing terminal,” according to the agency.

It is expected to cost $7 million, officials said.

The bus terminal on Manhattan’s West Side handles approximately 232,000 passenger trips and 7,800 bus movements. That is expected to go up by 51% by 2040, with up to 337,000 weekday passenger trips, according to the Port Authority. But the current facility, which opened in 1950, hasn’t been expanded since 1979.

The board also voted to spend $5.6 billion to fix up LaGuardia and Kennedy airports, major elements of Gov. Cuomo’s infrastructure platform.