The Biden administration’s infrastructure law will allow the expansion of the Second Avenue subway line to the 125th St in East Harlem, Manhattan. This is because the law will provide $ 23 billion in new grant opportunities for transit expansion, a historic level of funding that doubles the number of grants available for major projects like Phase 2 of this line.
Given this, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, along with elected officials and leaders of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, toured the stretch of the project on Tuesday. The MTA submitted a grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for Phase 2 of the expansion that will include the construction of three new subway stations, in the 106th St, 116th St and 125th St and East Harlem.
The expansion could end by 2030.
About 70 percent of East Harlem residents use public transportation to get to work, much higher than the city average of 55 percent. The expansion of subway line two would help advance the Biden Administration and New York State’s transportation equity goal and improve local community access to jobs, healthcare and other services, while reducing congestion in Lexington Avenue and improve air quality.
Phase 1 of the Second Avenue line, which extended the Q line from 63rd Street to 96th Street, was the largest expansion of the subway system in New York City in 50 years and opened on January 1, 2017. In this phase, additional stations were built in 72nd St and 86th St. Since its completion, the Second Avenue subway has carried more than 130 million passengers and carried more than 200,000 passengers in a day before the pandemic.
The tunnel segment to be used for Phase 2 was built in the 1970s from the street 110th St until the 120th St along Second Avenue.
What should I know about Phase 2 of the Second Avenue subway line?
• This phase of the project will extend the train service from the street 96th St north to 125th St.
• Phase 2 will build new stations at 106th St, 116th St, and 125th St.
• Phase 2 will provide direct passenger connections to the metro line of Lexington Avenue (4/5/6) on the street 125th St and an entry in Park Ave to allow convenient transfers to the station Metro-North Railroad 125 St.
• Each station will have auxiliary buildings on which they will house mechanical and electrical ventilation equipment. These will include space for a possible retail sale on the ground floor.
• The expansion will serve 100,000 additional daily passengers.
• Provide three new ADA accessible stations.
• Increase in multimodal traffic connectivity at the station 125th St, with connections to the 4/5/6, Metro-North trains and the M60 Select bus service to LaGuardia Airport, allowing convenient transfers to other subway and commuter rail lines, facilitating and expediting transportation throughout the city and region.
“New Yorkers dream big and act big, and the plan for Phase 2 of the Second Avenue subway expansion unlocks our incredible potential to provide communities with the transportation infrastructure and equity they will need to compete economically.” Governor Hochul said. “I want to thank Senate Majority Leader Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, Congressman Espaillat and our congressional delegation for their tireless work to secure the resources that can help us deliver a bill for East Harlem that was promised decades ago.”
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