MTA Wants Feds To Fund A Third Of 2nd Ave Subway Extension

EAST HARLEM, NY — The Metropolitan Transit Agency has a goal to acquire a third of the funding needed to extend the Second Avenue Subway up to East Harlem from the Federal Government, according to reports.

MTA officials said Monday that the agency has submitted paperwork to acquire federal funding for the project to the Federal Transit Administration, New York 1 first reported. With a projected cost of $6 billion, the MTA's ask of the federal government is around $2 billion.

"The future of this project lays in Washington," Tim Gianfrancesco, an adviser on the Second Avenue Subway extension, said during a Monday meeting, as reported by NY1.

The New York Daily News reported that Gianfrancesco said the goal is to establish a federal funding agreement sometime in 2020.

Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway will extend the Q train from East 96th Street to East 125th Street with new stations at East 106th, 116th and 125th streets. MTA officials estimated that they could shed $1 billion from the project's cost by re-purposing an existing subway tunnel to create the new stop at East 116th Street and by cutting the amount of excavation at 125th Street, the Daily News reported. A reduction in project cost could make the federal government more likely to fund it, according to reports.

The Federal Transit Administration issued a "Finding of No Significant Impact" for an updated Environmental Impact Statement for Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway in November, opening up the project to federal funds.

The ruling means that federal officials believe changes made to the project do not pose an "additional significant adverse impact on the environment" for the areas in East Harlem that will undergo construction. Earlier in the year, MTA officials informed East Harlem residents and businesses on how construction will affect their daily lives.

The Second Avenue Subway's first phase was completed on New Year's Day of 2017. The project re-routed the Q line up Second Avenue with new stops at East 63rd Street, East 72nd Street, East 86th Street and East 96th Street. Phase two extends the new Q line up to East 125th Street where it will connect with the Metro North Railroad and could be extended into the Bronx. Phases three and four will extend the line downtown to Hanover Square in the Financial District.