en.Wedoany.com Reported - New York Governor Kathy Hochul, along with Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) leadership, elected officials, and Harlem community leaders, attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the main construction phase of the Second Avenue Subway Phase II project. The groundbreaking site is located at 120th Street and Second Avenue, where in early 2027, a state-of-the-art variable-density tunnel-boring machine (TBM) will be lowered to excavate a new subway tunnel leading to 125th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard.
After federal funding for the project was restored in April, the MTA has awarded the next major contract, which will use the "cut-and-cover" method to construct the final tunnel segment from 105th Street to 110th Street, including the future 106th Street station. Drawing on experience from Phase I, the MTA expects to save over $1 billion and, by completing utility relocations ahead of schedule, start project work six months earlier than originally planned.
The state-of-the-art variable-density tunnel-boring machine weighs over 1.5 million pounds and is equipped with a 23-foot tungsten carbide cutterhead that can switch between hard rock bits and soft soil or sand bits depending on the material encountered. As the TBM advances beneath Harlem, it also reinforces the tunnel lining left behind. The TBM will depart from the 120th Street site and travel to 125th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard.
As Phase II reaches this milestone, Governor Hochul and the MTA have begun scoping and design for a potential next phase extending the Q train westward along 125th Street to Broadway. This phase plans to add three new stations, with an estimated average daily ridership of over 160,000. Following the governor's 2024 announcement of the completion of the MTA feasibility study, $25 million was allocated in the state budget for the current fiscal year (FY27) to conduct preliminary engineering and design for the tunnel extension and to approve an efficient environmental review process. If the project proceeds, tunnel construction can seamlessly continue using much of the same equipment from Phase II, saving time and money.
The Second Avenue Subway Phase II project is divided into four contracts (compared to ten for Phase I) to improve project efficiency and reduce contractor coordination complexity. Tunneling falls under Contract 2, valued at $1.97 billion, which includes TBM shaft excavation, controlled blasting for future stations, and removal of asbestos and lead from existing 1970s tunnels. The MTA and Governor Hochul also announced the award of Contract 3, which will construct the structural shell of the new 106th Street station and associated tunnels, connecting existing tunnels north and south of the station. The contractor is expected to begin construction in the coming months. The total budget for the entire Second Avenue Subway Phase II project is $6.968 billion, with operations expected to begin in 2032.
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