MTA Leaders Break Ground on Major Construction Stage of Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 Project
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
Progress on Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway in East Harlem seen on Friday, May 29, 2026. 2nd Av. between 119th St. & 120th St. where Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) will begin work at bellmouth at northern end of existing tunnel.
Marc A. Hermann / MTA
NEW YORK CITY - Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) leaders and Governor Kathy Hochul celebrated the groundbreaking of the major construction stage of the Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 project.
The groundbreaking was located where future tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be lowered and begin mining new subway tunnels in early 2027. The TBMs, which will be delivered next year, will mine from 120 Street and 2nd Avenue to 125 Street and Malcolm X Boulevard. The machines weigh more than one million and a half pounds and are equipped with 23-foot, tungsten carbide cutter heads. The MTA reports these TBMs can toggle between drills to account for different materials, including hard rock or soft soil and sand. As the TBM travels under Harlem, it reinforces the tunnel lining it leaves behind.
Stage 2 of the Second Avenue Subway project includes four separate contracts. Phase 1 had 10 contracts. Contract 2 includes the tunnel boring and is valued at $1.97 billion, MTA says. This contract includes excavating the shaft for the TBM and controlled blasts at future stations and asbestos and lead abatement of tunnels that date back to the 1970s. During the groundbreaking, the MTA and Governor Hochul announced Contract 3 was awarded. This contract includes the construction of structural shells at the new 106 St Station and any associated tunneling, as well as connecting existing tunnels located north and south of the station. MTA says the entire project is budgeted at $6.968 billion and is expected to be ready for service in 2032.
Drone Footage of Second Avenue Subway Tunnel
Along with this stage of Phase 2, the MTA says it is scoping and designing a potential next phase of the Q train that will travel westward across 125th Street to Broadway with three new stations: 106 Street, 116 Street, and 125 Street. After a feasibility study was conducted in 2024, the FY27 state budget has secured $25 million for preliminary engineering and design of a tunnel extension and environmental review process approval, MTA reports.
In addition to the groundbreaking celebration, Governor Hochul announced the MTA has awarded the next major contract to construct the final tunnel section. This phase includes 105 Street to 110 Street and the future 106 St Station. Taking what they learned from Phase 1 of the project, the MTA is able to “deliver more than $1 billion in savings and is on track to complete advanced utility relocations early, allowing pending work on this project to start six months faster than originally scheduled.”
Cost containment strategies the MTA employed include addressing utility relocation requirements first, given New York City has complex underground utility networks. This preemptive measure reduces the “risk of unexpected costs or delays later as construction progresses.” A second strategy includes reusing a tunnel segment from the 1970s that goes from 110 Street to 120 Street, adopting best-value and performance based contracts, acquiring real estate early, and reducing back-of-house, ancillary spaces and station sizes.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “It was 80 years ago they started knocking down the Second Avenue El — an entire lifetime. Today’s groundbreaking is another major step toward transit justice for East Harlem, the City’s most transit-dependent community.”
“The new MTA is delivering on the longstanding promise to bring subway service to the East Harlem community. By applying lessons learned from Phase 1, we’re delivering this project better, faster, and cheaper—with more than $1 billion in savings to date,” said MTA Construction & Development President Jamie Torres-Springer.
