Second Avenue Subway Phase II Planning / Construction

Second Ave. subway’s Harlem extension due in 2032: documents

The planned extension of the much-delayed Second Ave. subway into East Harlem is scheduled to open in September 2032, according to a draft of a federal funding agreement obtained by the Daily News.

Under the terms of the agreement, which was first reported by The News last week, the Federal Transit Administration will kick in $3.4 billion toward the project with the MTA promising to foot $4.3 billion of the bill.

The so-called Phase 2 expansion will consist of 1.76 miles of track and three additional subway stations. It’s expected to cost $7.7 billion.
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The new stations together make up the bulk of the expense, with $3.44 billion currently allocated to their construction. By contrast, the work of digging new tunnels and laying down tracks is expected to run roughly $471 million.
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The MTA is setting aside $1.3 billion in contingency funds for possible cost overruns, and $730 million is expected to cover financing charges.
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The agreement says work is expected to begin on the new subway stations in the first half of 2024 — but the MTA likewise declined to comment on any time line for awarding contracts for that work.
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The tail tracks in the federal filing extend past Lenox Ave., demonstrating the possibility of a future connection to the 125th St. stop of the No. 2 and 3 lines.
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The MTA Sticks to Its Oversize Stations
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MTA Construction and Development has chosen to keep building oversize stations for Second Avenue Subway Phase 2, a project that despite being for the most part easier than the already-open Phase 1, is projected to cost slightly more per kilometer. Nolan Hicks at the New York Post just published a profile diagram:



The enormous size of 125th Street Station is not going to be a grand civic space. As the diagram indicates, the length of the dig past the platforms will not be accessible to passengers. Instead, it will be used for staff and mechanical rooms. Each department wants its own dedicated space, and at no point has MTA leadership told them no.
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But now the head of the MTA is Janno Lieber, who came from C&D. He knows about our report. So does C&D head Jamie Torres-Springer. When one of Torres-Springer’s staffers said a year ago that of course Second Avenue Subway needs more circulation space than Citybanan in Stockholm, since it has higher ridership (in fact, in 2019 the ridership at each of the two Citybana stations, e.g. pp. 39 and 41, was higher than at each of the three Second Avenue Subway stations), the Stockholm reference wasn’t random. They no longer make that false claim. But they stick to the conclusion that is based on this and similar false claims – namely, that it’s normal to build underground urban rail stations with digs that are twice as long as the platform.
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MTA to tear up 5 blocks in East Harlem for Second Avenue subway


The MTA plans to tear up five blocks of streets in East Harlem in order to keep costs down on its $7.7 billion extension of the Second Avenue subway.

Transit officials on Monday revealed they plan to use the “cut and cover” method to build a portion of the subway tunnel from East 105th Street to East 110th Street. The technique means crews will dig up the street, excavate a tunnel and then rebuild the roadway above.
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Before the MTA begins excavating the tunnels, they’ll first relocate utilities like water, electric, sewer and telecommunications lines that sit in the path of the planned subway. The agency awarded a $182 million contract for relocation of the utilities on Monday and said the work would begin next month.
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