New York's Greatest Unbuilt Project (cont'd)

The New York City Transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has claimed that construction on phase I of the Second Avenue Subway will likely begin in the summer of 2007. Phase I runs from 63 to 96 streets along 2nd avenue, with stops at 96, 86, and 72 streets. It will join the existing ex-IND 63 st. connection and will see its first revenue service as an extension of the ex-BMT "Q" Broadway Express, currently running from Coney Island (Bklyn) to 57 St. & 7 Ave. (Mnhtn). Construction is expected to take 6-8 months.

My questions, one practical and one cynical: How long after tunnel construction will the service actually start? And how far past these projections will construction actually go? Given the project's legendary tendencies to avoid completion, Phase I will set the mood for the rest of construction. The projected date for full service between 125 st. and Hanover Square is 2020. If phase I is completed on time or ahead of schedule, I bet the momentum could bring that date rapidly closer. 14 years is ample time for something to come along and wreck a city's good intentions; any delays in construction would make New York's unforeseen catastrophes (of any size) that much more damaging to the timeline.

So get digging, MTA.