On Monday, August 18th, the MTA gave the green light for the Second Avenue Subway Phase 2, which will kickstart the tunnel-boring process and ultimately extend the Q train from 96th Street to 125th Street and the new tunnel itself from 116th Street to 125th Street.
“It’s been a century since the people of East Harlem were promised the new subway they deserve — and we are finally getting it done,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “East Harlem is one of the most transit-reliant neighborhoods in New York, but every day, tens of thousands of commuters lack subway access. The Second Avenue Subway will change everything.”\
When the project is complete (roughly 2032), it will extend the Q line to 125th Street, add three ADA-accessible stations at 106th, 116th, and 125th Streets, and serve more than 100,000 commuters each day.
“The new MTA is moving forward with the largest tunneling contract in agency history, but – more important – with a project that pencils at the lowest cost per rider of any heavy rail project in America,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said.
Per the MTA, the contract is valued at $1.972 billion and will be awarded to Connect Plus Partners, a joint venture between Halmar International and FCC Construction. It will excavate the space for the future 125th Street Station and outfit the tunnel along the route that was built in the 1970s to accommodate the future 116th Street Station, the latter of which will save the MTA upwards of $500 million.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated as further developments get underway. In the meantime, there are plenty of other transit-related projects that will transform the way we get around NYC (and beyond):
the country’s fastest train will debut in NYC this August and the new route has just been unveiled. New York’s first hybrid electric ferry is moving to and from Governors Island. And for those of us who prefer to do things the old-fashioned way, a 40-mile greenway expansion could make a continuous walk around Manhattan possible. Imagine that!