Does Hochul's 125th Street Subway Have to Be That Expensive? - Streetsblog New York City

"Gov. Hochul's dream of a western extension of the Second Avenue Subway has a $7.7-billion price tag that calls into question the very logic of building it at all - but advocates and researchers say the train is a good idea that could cost a lot less with some minor alterations. Last month, Hochul revealed that the MTA plans to pay for the engineering and design work to extend the long-awaited subway west, underneath 125th Street, to Broadway in West Harlem."

"Planners did not include a 125th Street leg in the original vision for the Second Avenue line, which the MTA planned to run all the way downtown to Hanover Square in the Financial District. But the MTA did take a cursory look at the concept in its 2024 20-Year Needs Assessment, and Hochul's new plan has its origins in a feasibility study that engineering firm AECOM did for the MTA last year"

A proposed western extension of the Second Avenue Subway would run under 125th Street to Broadway in West Harlem and carries an estimated $7.7 billion price tag. The MTA plans to fund engineering and design work and does not expect tunnel-boring before late 2028, allowing time to adjust plans. Planners did not include a 125th Street leg in the original Second Avenue vision, but the concept appeared in the MTA's 2024 20-Year Needs Assessment and in a feasibility study by engineering firm AECOM. The feasibility work sketched station designs, costs, and a roadmap, and researchers say modest alterations could reduce costs.

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