Second Avenue Subway
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefThe tunnel boring machine underneath Manhattan’s Second Avenue reportedly completed its work Thursday on the second subway tunnel running from 92nd Street to 63rd Street, breaking through to an existing MTA New York City Transit tunnel near the Lexington Avenue/63rd Street station, and marking the completion of major tunneling for the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway.
MTA, under fire for perceived deadline slippages linked to this and other big-ticket projects, still holds that the first phase of the $4.4 billion Second Avenue Subway will begin revenue service in December 2016. The Federal Transit Administration recently released a report estimating a completion date in 2018.
The proposal for a Second Avenue Subway has existed since at least 1929, with numerous attempts made to construct the line, but has been repeatedly postponed or deferred due to various budgetary crises. The current tunneling effort, using a 485-ton tunnel-boring machine, began in earnest in May 2010.
Last week, Skanska said it had signed a contract to build the Second Avenue Subway line’s 86th Street Station, in a joint venture with Traylor Bros. Inc.
