Chairman of New York MTA Peter Kalikow has confirmed that the $17bn Second Avenue subway will be built in stages to make it easier to secure funding.
MTA plans envisage that the first phase will have only four stations before merging with the existing BMT Broadway subway. The line would start at 96th Street and Second Avenue and run south, with stations at 86th and 72nd streets. The tunnel would then veer west, stopping at 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue station before linking up to the Broadway line, which serves Midtown, lower Manhattan and connects to the subway’s Brooklyn network.
Three future construction phases would extend the line along Second Avenue north to 125th Street and south to Hanover Square. Optimistic projections have Phase One work starting later this year and being completed in 2011. The entire route would be finished in 2020. n
