New milestones in the second avenue subway line were announced Friday afternoon by elected officials and those involved in construction to remind New Yorkers that development is actually underway, something many locals have seemed to given up hope with.
“I cannot tell you how many of my constituents are contacting me with questions about whether or not it will be completed,” said Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, NY-12, who said the number one takeaway from the announcement should be that “it’s going to be completed.”
“[I'M ASKED] ‘Will the money be there? Will the work be done?’,” she said. “Their lives have been disrupted…”
“For years, people have been asking me if they will live long enough to ride the second avenue subway,” said senator Liz Krueger. “Usually I’ve had to respond that it depends on your age, but now I finally feel we can say with confidence, ‘get ready. We will soon have a new subway to ride.’”
Maloney announced that “the MTA is hitting its milestones and much of phase 1 is completed or near completion. The MTA has all of the federal and state funding needed to build the project, the designing is all done, tunneling is finished and blasting operations have been completed.”
Presently, 65 % of phase one is complete, with completion slated for December 2016. One hundred percent of the design is complete, and all federal and state funding is in hand.
The building of 96th street, 86th street and 72nd street stations is in progress, and the retrofitting of 63rd street station, which was built in 1983, is also in progress.
96th street, 86th street and 72nd street stations will have three entrances, and the 63rd street station will have four entrances, all in progress.
MTA capital construction company president Dr. Michael Horodniceanu said the second avenue line will differ significantly from existing lines in a few ways. “Stations will be cooled [AT LEAST]10 degrees below surface temperature.”
Art will also be incorporated in the stations, and artists are presently being commissioned to create work in the stations, he said. The stations have also been designed columnless, he continued, comparing the design to that of the Washington DC metro. It will be a “totally different experience,” he said.
All stations will comply with current fire code, while existing stations built before this time do not, and the ventilation system is also different. “No more grates,” he said.
Funding is completely appropriated, with $ 1.3 billion in federal funding and $ 3.076 billion in state funding secured. The final installment of federal funding was included in the federal fiscal year 2014 appropriations bill signed by president Barack Obama on Jan. 15.
“I want people to be away of where this money is going,” Maloney said. “The more information there is out there… [IT]helps build momentum and public support.”
All 10 construction contacts have been bid out and executed, and four have been completed. Six are in progress.
The following of phase 1 still needs to be completed: most of the track work needs to be done. Construction at 96th, 86th and 72nd, and the expansion of the 63rd street station needs to be completed. The MTA needs to build 13 entrances and eight ancillary buildings.
The subway line will be built in four phases. Horodniceanu estimated all phases will be completed by 2029.
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