The MTA is currently looking into extending the Second Ave Subway past Lexington/125th to Broadway/125th. This is sorely needed because of the number of trips that go crosstown on 125th St and how a 125th St Subway would connect all subway lines up here.

However, there are problems with the design of the subway. That is because of three reasons:

1. Stations are way too deep
   The MTA projects the new stations on 125th St are going to be at least 100 feet below the street level. That depth will translate into transfer times being as high as 5 minutes. When the 125th St Subway is built on transferring, that is a problem.
   
   Reducing the depth would mean much more seamless transfers. That can be done via ground freezing, like that done on East Side Access, in order to stabilize the ground for the tunnel boring machines to go through. Or it can be done via cut and cover, as what was done for all of the subways in the area.
   
   
2. Stations are way too wide and big
   The stations are projected to be 75 feet wide. That has no precedent in the MTA, as the already wide stations on the new subway are 63 feet wide. This increase in station width translates into much higher costs to dig out the stations.
   
   Reducing station widths back to 63 feet would be a good start. But the MTA can go further, as even when Phase 1 of the Second Ave Subway sees similar traffic, there is still empty space at all times. That is apparent in the mezzanines, which is planned to be full length on all stations at 125th St.
   
   
3. The cost is way too high
   The project costs $7.7 billion for less than 1.5 miles of subway. That is an insane cost. For reference, Paris is building the first phase of Line 15, a fully automated, 21 mile subway, at just $4.2 billion. There should be no reason why we pay 35 times the price per mile of subway than Paris.
   
   Part of that comes via reducing the size and the depth of the stations. But another part is to reduce the level of contingencies. The MTA intends to ask the federal government to pay for this, and the federal government mandates a 40 percent contingencies so that whenever a project goes over budget, the MTA doesn't have to ask again. Already, 40 percent is excessively high, but there is speculation that the level of contingencies is cross referenced with other projects. In short, we are talking taking 40 percent contingencies on top of 40 percent contingencies on top of 40 percent contingencies for this project.
   
   That is why even reducing the contingencies back to just Second Ave Phase 1 levels, the cost goes from $7.7 billion to $6 billion. That before we talk about reducing station depth and widths.

This is just a feasibility study, and things can change. We are asking that the MTA take another look at this and improves the design of the 125th St Subway. Specifically, we are calling for:

1. Reducing the depth of the stations
2. Reducing the width of the stations
3. Reducing the contingencies of the subway
4. Installing high speed elevators at certain stations.
5. Combining this into Phase 2 of the Second Ave Subway

We might not be able to implement all of these solutions. But even getting 2 out of the 5 on this list would go a long way to making sure the subway is worthy for New York City.

(Photo from the MTA)