Second Ave Subway Construction thru Phase I open

I was at Lexington/63 Street this morning, and noticed they were running trains on track behind the wall (new Second Avenue). Sounded like they were running at a decent speed, some would stop, others would slow for the station.

They are indeed testing trains. I think a video showed R160 and a R68 train.

The Channel 2 News just ran a story on the tests.

Go peek over the curtain at Lexington 63 any time in the next week and you'll see the trains...

The New York Times has a feature article that appears in the Monday edition:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/nyre ... iving.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:

It has occupied a special place in New York City’s imagination for nearly 100 years: an unfinished dream, a punch line for delays, a construction nightmare. Some New Yorkers wondered if they would ever live to see the day when it came to life.

After decades of failed efforts, the first segment of the Second Avenue subway line is scheduled to open in December, with three new stations on the Upper East Side of Manhattan

I can recall during the '50's when I was, say, about ten, going for a ride on the 3rd Ave "El". Obviously my Mother and Grandmother were "accommodating me", with the latter reminding us "there ARE taxicabs". I can remember how they both said how a new Subway would be started soon just one Avenue to the East....

......well, here we are!!!!

As to Phase I of the SAS getting done:

1. About 2 weeks ago, the Daily News reported that as a result of running test trains, they found that they would have to shave down parts of the walls because the R-68's were hitting them on the curves. They forgot to make the tunnel wide enough. I've seen very little else about this, and I don't know if that additional work is finished yet.

2. Regarding the 72nd Street Station, they've picked up the pace considerably in completeing the support structures on the Northwest and Souteasr corners, and they're restoring the sidewalk on @nd Avenue at the Southeast corner.

3. The support structure at 68th Street is also much closer toward completion. But I don't know what's going on down in the station itself.

4. AT 63rd Street and 3rd Avenue, the fancy plaze at the Northwest corner is done, except for some finishing touches on the subway tower in one corner of it. The new station entrances at that end seem to beready fo ruse or close - although the signs on the elevator enclosure just indicate F service, with no mention of Q. And eacvh of hte 2 stairs is heavily barricaded to prevent use.

5. As of last week - the support structure at 86th Street still required obvious work.

Work on all of these strctures is ongoing - but it still seems to be anyone's guess when trains will be carrying passengers along 2nd Avenue. I personally expect sometime in April.

‘Unprecedented’ Work Required to Open 2nd Avenue Subway by Year’s End, Officials Say - New York Times

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s race to open the Second Avenue subway by the end of the year will require an “unprecedented” push by workers, officials said on Monday.

With less than seven weeks left in the year, officials at the authority said they were committed to finishing the work on time and opening the line in December.

“We’re working very judiciously to meet this date of Dec. 31,” the authority’s chairman, Thomas F. Prendergast, told board members at a committee meeting

.

Since I last posted - they shaved the tunnel walls where necessary so that all trains will fit on the turn. Work has been going 24 hours a day on the stations. There's definite progress at 72nd Street, where i saw workers using the elevators 2 weeks ago. But there's still more work to be done. I haven't been to 86th Street in several wweks, and I haven't been to 96th Street in much longer.

For now, I'm just going to wait and see how soon Phase I will be ready. The way I see it, based in part on observations by others that one won't do well to predict too far ahead with MTA, is:

Phase I will be in use by the public sometime in the next few months.
Phase II should be done sometime between 2026 and 2030.
Phase III and beyond: It's anybody's guess. The cost of Phase III hasn't been budgeted yet, nor have the details of making it been addressed. going based on recent history, work on Phase III will most likely begin when Phase II will be ready for the public, or close. And since Phase III will cover a much longer distance than either of the first 2 phases, and twice as many stations, we'll be luck to see trains running under Second Avenue by 2050.

I was recently in the Lexington Avenue/63rd Street Station. They had removed the barricades and curtains, so now each platform is fully wide open. The renovation is nearly coplete, and virtually all of the work that remains is cosmetic - cleaning the platforms and some of the stairs, which are filthy, and installing some of the wall and ceiling tiles and panels. My question is: Since the work at this station was renovation of an existing station which has been open to the public the whole time, why can't they open the access at the Third Avenue end, and make getting in and out of there easier for passengers whose actual starting point or destination is on or East of Third Avenue?

Because it would make sense.

You know the MTA has a problem with things that make sense.

An extensive update on the status of the work at each station can be found on this link:

"The Final Push"
http://thelaunchbox.blogspot.com/2016/1 ... -push.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The Launch Box | December 9, 2016

Andy; where's your Hard Hat???????

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/nyreg ... ening.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HURRAH!

2nd Avenue Subway Will Open on New Year’s Day, M.T.A. Says

After nearly a century of delays and disappointment, the first phase of the Second Avenue subway is finally opening to the public on New Year’s Day, officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said on Monday.

The first subway train will leave a new station at 96th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan at 6:04 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2017, said the authority’s chairman, Thomas F. Prendergast. At an event on Monday to reveal the artwork at the new stations, Mr. Prendergast invited the crowd to ride the line.
...
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who has been pressing officials to open the line by the end of the year, said local leaders would take a ceremonial ride on the Second Avenue line on New Year’s Eve and perhaps toast the opening of the long-delayed project with champagne.

We will celebrate that day at railroad.net by locking this thread, and moving discussion of phase I operations to here: Second Avenue Subway Operations

A new thread for Phase II construction will start here: Second Avenue Subway Phase II - IV Planning / Construction

If anyone wants to go check out the station ahead of the crowds, 96th Street is open to the public until 7pm this evening, and 8-10am & 5-7pm tomorrow. There is a nifty commemorative metrocard available (presumably in the TVM) and a map to be had.

This past Tuesday, The Times, ran a feature article on the artwork that will be displayed at the Subway's stations.

Fair Use

With four new Second Avenue stations as blank canvases, artists celebrate the city in dazzling tiles.