On Monday Governor Kathy Hochul joined leadership from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), elected officials and Harlem community leaders to break ground on the major construction stage of the transformative Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 project. The groundbreaking occurred at the location where, in early 2027, the state-of-the-art tunnel-boring machine (TBM) will be lowered into the ground and begin mining the new subway tunnels from 120 Street and 2nd Avenue to 125 Street and Malcolm X Boulevard.
The governor also announced that, following the resumption of federal funding to the project in April, the MTA has awarded the next major contract to construct the final tunnel section of this phase from 105 Street to 110 Street, including the future 106 St Station, using a “cut and cover” approach. The MTA is applying lessons from Phase 1 of the project to deliver more than $1 billion in savings and is on track to complete advanced utility relocations early, allowing pending work on this project to start six months faster than originally scheduled.
The state-of-the-art variable-density Tunnel Boring Machines will be delivered early next year. Weighing more than one million and a half pounds, the machines are equipped with 23-foot, tungsten carbide cutter heads. The TBM can adjust its methods depending on what kind of material it encounters, toggling between one kind of drill for hard rock and another for soft soil or sand. The TBM also reinforces the tunnel lining it leaves behind as it travels beneath Harlem. The TBM will launch from the 120 Street site and travel to 125 Street and Malcolm X Boulevard.
Concurrent to the milestone on the Phase 2 project, Governor Hochul and the MTA are already scoping and designing a potential next phase of the train westward across 125th St to Broadway with three new stations and more than 160,000 daily riders. Following the completion of an MTA feasibility study announced by the governor in 2024, this year’s FY27 enacted state budget secured $25 million to conduct preliminary engineering and design of a tunnel extension and approval of an efficient environmental review process. If the project is advanced, work on the tunnel could continue seamlessly using much of the same equipment from phase 2, saving time and money.
Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 is divided into four contracts – compared to 10 in Phase 1 – to increase project efficiency and minimize complicated contractor coordination. The tunnel boring is part of Contract 2, valued at $1.97 billion, including shaft excavation for the TBM, controlled blasting for future stations and asbestos and lead abatement in the existing 1970s tunnels. At today’s groundbreaking, the MTA and Governor Hochul announced progress on another major component of Phase 2: the award of Contract 3. Contract 3 will construct the structural shells of the new 106 St Station and associated tunneling, connecting the existing tunnels north and south of the station, which the contractor is expected to begin work in the coming months. The entire Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 project is budgeted at $6.968 billion and is on track for revenue service in 2032.
-via Press Release
