NYCT news release, 12/18:
Construction of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) largest expansion of the transit system in decades, the Second Avenue Subway, has reached another critical milestone with the on-time completion of the 86th Street Station cavern. Work began in August of 2011 and was completed earlier this week.
This project, valued at $332 million, included extensive excavation for the bedrock cavern that will house the station as well as the shafts and adits for the entrances and cross passageways. In addition, installation of the cavern's massive concrete structural lining was part of the effort. Utility work was also required for this assignment. Two buildings within the 1,000-foot-long footprint of the work area had to be underpinned in order to support the structures throughout construction activities.
"We have now completed 76% of the work needed to build Phase 1 of the Second Avenue Subway. This project will benefit residents of the Upper East Side in so many ways,” said Michael Horodniceanu, President, MTA Capital Construction.
Although the heavy civil portion of the station is now complete, work continues on the HVAC, elevator and escalator installations, and other architectural finishes that will be required to complete the station structure and the ancillary structures.
The $4.45 billion project to build Phase 1 of the Second Avenue Subway will feature new stations at 72nd Street, 86th Street and 96th Street and a station renovation with a new 3rd Avenue entrance at 63rd Street.
Phase I of the Second Avenue Subway will serve more than 200,000 people per day, reducing overcrowding on the Lexington Avenue Line and restoring a transit link to a neighborhood that lost the Second Avenue Elevated in 1940.
When Phase I is complete, it will decrease crowding on the adjacent Lexington Avenue Line by as much as 13%, or 23,500 fewer riders on an average weekday. It will also reduce travel times by up to 10 minutes or more (up to 27%) for those on the far east side or those traveling from the east side to west midtown.