Fifth Time's A Charm? Officials Break Ground Again On 2nd Ave Subway
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City leaders and MTA officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday morning for the long-awaited Second Avenue subway line in East Harlem.
There have been several previous groundbreakings for the project. The first was held over 80 years ago in 1925, and the most recent one was held in the mid 1970s. But each time the line has been derailed by poor planning and lack of money.
Officials say this time they are confident they will get the job done.
“This time it is different, because we do have the money,” said MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow. “We have the money; we have the political will; we have great support from all of our elected officials.”
“The 2nd Avenue subway is the most important subway project in the entire country,” said MTA Executive Director & CEO Elliot “Lee” Sander. “Today, of course, it will ease overcrowding on the city’s most congested lines, provide the capacity for tens of thousands of additional jobs in the region’s economic core, and take cars off of our roads.”
The first phase of the line will run from 63rd Street to 96th Street and will serve as an extension of the Q train.
The cost of the first phase will be about $3.9 billion and will include new state-of-the-art stations at 96th Street, 86th Street and 72nd Street. These stations will be handicap accessible.
Phase one is scheduled to be completed by 2013 and is expected to carry almost 200,000 passengers on day one of operation.
Officials, including the governor, say they're committed to building the full line, from 125th Street all the way down to the Financial District.
“It is necessary that we build this subway and complete it, so it not only goes down to Lower Manhattan and up to 125th Street, but ultimately farther north and also farther south,” said Governor Eliot Spitzer. “This is a line that it integral to our long-term economic vitality. And so I pledge, as long as I have the privilege of being governor, working with all these great elected officials, we will figure out how to make these investments."
When it's completed, the project will add more than eight and a half miles to the city's subway system.
Officials Hope Fifth Time's A Charm For Subway Groundbreaking
MTA Poised To Break Ground On Second Avenue Subway — Again