The MTA has issued a request for qualifications for the fourth and final construction contract of Second Avenue Subway Phase 2. It plans to send requests for proposals by the end of the year, select a contractor in mid-2027 and begin work that same year. The project costs $6.968 billion, and the goal is to finish extending the Q line to 125th Street in East Harlem by fall 2032.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Sept. 14 that the MTA has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for the fourth and final contract of Second Avenue Subway Phase 2. By the end of the year, the MTA plans to send a request for proposals (RFP) to qualified firms, select a contractor in mid-2027 and begin work that same year. Phase 2 will extend the Q line about 1.5 miles from 96th Street to 125th Street and Lexington Avenue in East Harlem, with three new stations at 106th, 116th and 125th streets.
The fourth contract is the largest of the Phase 2 contracts and covers the parts of the project that riders will experience directly. It includes building the platforms and entrance canopies at the three stations, as well as six above-ground ancillary buildings to house ventilation, mechanical and electrical equipment. The contract also covers the installation of 22 elevators and 20 escalators, along with track and third rail, signal and communications systems, public address systems and information displays, Help Point intercoms, Wi-Fi, fare gates, and station finishes and signage.
The new 125th Street station will connect to the 125th Street station on the 4, 5 and 6 lines. An entrance one block away on Park Avenue will also make it easier to transfer to Metro-North's Harlem-125th Street station and the M60 bus to LaGuardia Airport. The MTA said that once Phase 2 is complete, riders will be able to travel from East Harlem to the Upper East Side, western Midtown and Coney Island without transferring, and travel times will be cut by up to 20 minutes.
Progress on the First Three Contracts
The first contract, awarded in January 2024, covers relocating underground utilities at the planned 106th Street station site. It is about 60% complete and will finish in summer 2027. The second contract, awarded in September 2025, covers excavating two tunnels, rehabilitating existing tunnels and building the 116th Street station structure, among other work. The tunnel boring machine (TBM) is being manufactured, and excavation of the shaft at the 125th Street entrance has begun. The third contract, awarded in April 2026, covers the 106th Street station structure, tunnel connections and ancillary buildings, with a goal of completion in the third quarter of 2030.
The total project cost is $6.968 billion, funded by congestion pricing revenue and $3.4 billion in federal funding. MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said the final solicitation addresses the parts of the project that riders will interact with directly, such as station finishes and communications systems. Jamie Torres-Springer, president of MTA Construction & Development, said that applying lessons learned from Phase 1 has saved more than $1 billion so far. The Second Avenue line has been planned since the 1920s. Construction began in East Harlem in 1972 but was halted in 1975 by the city's fiscal crisis, and some of the tunnels built then will be reused in the 116th Street station work.