Second Avenue Subway Phase 2

Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway is finally moving dirt. The MTA broke ground in East Harlem after awarding a $1.02 billion tunneling contract to a Skanska, Traylor Bros., and Walsh joint venture, the largest single package in a program that extends the Q train north from 96th Street to 125th Street.

Project Scope

The extension runs roughly 1.5 miles up Second Avenue, then turns west under 125th Street to a new terminal at Lexington Avenue. Three stations are planned, at 106th, 116th, and 125th streets. The JV’s scope covers structural tie-ins to the existing Phase 1 tunnels, cut-and-cover station boxes, utility relocation, and roadway decking across a corridor that carries some of the densest bus ridership in the city. Much of the heavy civil work threads around live infrastructure, so staging and community access shaped the sequencing as much as the engineering did.

Why It Matters

East Harlem has waited nearly a century for this line. The original 1920s plan never got built. Phase 2 connects one of Manhattan’s most transit-dependent neighborhoods to the Q and, through it, the rest of the system. Federal money through the FTA’s Capital Investment Grants program anchors the budget, which makes the groundbreaking a test of whether big urban transit expansions can still pencil out after years of cost scrutiny. Crews expect tunneling to ramp up through 2027.

Project Team & Details