$6.9 billion Second Avenue Subway extension moving forward

The MTA is moving ahead with the next phase of its Second Avenue Subway project, which will extend the line to East Harlem, officials said Wednesday.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is seeking bids for the first construction contract for phase two of the Second Avenue subway, which the MTA has estimated will cost about $6.9 billion. The MTA aims to award a contract by the fall, and begin work by the end of this year.

The project will extend the Q subway line by 1½ miles, bringing it to East Harlem, which has been without subway service for more than 80 years. The plan includes new stations at 106th Street and 116th Street, and a connection at 125th Street to the Lexington Avenue line and to Metro-North.

The MTA on Wednesday released renderings of the new stations, including one of the 106th Street station, which featured a large glass canopy at street level.

"We remain committed to keeping this long-envisioned project moving along swiftly for East Harlem, and I am proud to see it moving one step closer to reality,” Hochul said in a statement.

MTA officials have said they expect the work to last up to eight years, but an official timeline won't be determined until a contract is awarded. The MTA is looking to hire a single firm to design and build the line, offering financial incentives for keeping the project on time and on budget.

The MTA is hoping to secure half the funding for the project from the federal government, and to pay for the rest through its five-year capital program, which could be largely funded by new congestion pricing tolls in Manhattan expected to be enacted next year.

Construction of the new subway line began in the early 1970s, but was then abandoned until New York voters approved a bond act in 2005 to resume the work. The first segment of the Second Avenue subway — the largest expansion of the city’s transit system in 50 years — opened in January 2017, stretching 1.8 miles from 63rd Street to 96th Street.

The first phase of the project cost $4.5 billion. MTA officials have said the first two phases will serve about 300,000 daily riders, saving some commuters up to 20 minutes each day, and relieving pressure on the Lexington Avenue line.

A third and fourth phase of the project, if pursued, would each cost $4.8 billion, according to the MTA, and would extend the line to Hanover Square in Manhattan’s Financial District.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.