Second Avenue Subway ProjectThe Second Avenue Subway Project is New York City’s plan to extend the Q-line up to East 96th Street. Not only that, it will connect three stations to the high traffic area of 63 Street and Lexington Avenue. The goal is minimize overcrowding and maximize efficiency.

This expansion will hopefully provide Manhattan with relief from the overcrowding that has succumbed the city for decades. Currently, the Upper East side line is the most crowded in the country. The line right now averages around 1.3 million passengers, which even exceeds the daily ridership of the San Francisco and Boston rail transit systems combined.

The plan for this project has actually been in place since shortly after the First World War. The grandiose proposals were soon deemed too expensive though and since then the progress has been extremely slow.

After the passing of the Transportation Bond Act in 2008, things have started to really move. With additional funding the project should have Phase 1 completed in December 2016.

A 485-ton machine bore through the Lexington Avenue-63rd Street sta-tion in September 2011. This major milestone was an essential part in completing Phase 1 of the tunnel. The machine was intended to keep the project on time and on budget. With the tunneling out of the way from the rock carving machine, the workers were able to lay down the concrete.

On June 18, 2012 the Federal Trade Commission handed over $197 million for the Second Avenue Subway Project in New York City. The money is intended to be put towards the completion of Phase 1. This lat-est donation makes around $1.3 billion total in federal funding for this project. Overall, there is a nearly $4.5 billion invested in Phase 1 alone.