A few weeks ago, Rep. Carolyn Maloney issued a pair of press releases touting the release of the final rounds of federal funds for Phase I of the Second Ave. Subway construction. The House Transportation, Housing & Urban Development appropriation included over $123 million for the project, and the FTA released $197 million as well. These were, as Maloney noted, the final pieces of the federal funding puzzle.
In a press release, Maloney, who touted job growth and transit expansion, issued her perfunctory statement. “I am gratified that the Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access, the two largest mass transit initiatives under construction anywhere in the country, are receiving merit-based, bipartisan support from the House of Representatives,” she said of the House grant. “I am particularly proud that this appropriation would be the final installment of the federal government’s commitment to the first phase of the project that I have worked my entire congressional career to achieve.”
So now that Phase I funding is in the books, Maloney can reaffirm her career-long commitment to the project by shifting her focus. She could become a leading voice for Phase II investment. While still project to cost a few billion dollars, the northern section of SAS includes tunnels that are already in place. Pre-built infrastructure should not lie fallow, and although the MTA has yet to make a push for Phase II, some assistance from Washington will only help to inch this never-ending project a little closer to completion.
4 comments
Maybe we’ll actually get this damn thing built and running before 2029!
It will certainly be interesting to see if funding can be secured before Phase I is up and running. I doubt it, but if it is, a huge accomplishment.
At a minimum, full funding of the design should be advanced,so that the envelope around parcel acquisition and the investments of other property owners can be defined. As provisions were made in the IND phase 1 for the construction of Phase 2, we should now be providing property owners a clear vision of what future there can be for their parcels
I think this will be easier of Phase 2 is segmented; the final section to 125th St. is vastly complicated, while the parts south of that are really, really easy.