First phase of Second Avenue Subway tunneling complete

Today, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will finish tunneling the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Trains won’t be running on the new subway line for at least five years, but that’s just a blip in the long history of the project, which was first proposed in the 1920s and has been kicked around ever since.

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For now twin tunnels have been dug between 63rd and 96th streets. Next, construction crews will blast out three stations, finish the tunnels with concrete and lay the tracks.

All told the project costs $4.45 billion, and will extend the Q train north to the Upper East Side. Though the MTA hasn’t secured all the necessary financing, it has agreements with federal authorities that should compel the agency to complete this phase. [WSJ]