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Monday, May 12, 2003

The NYC MTA is inching forward with their plans to create a second avenue subway line. It's been in various stages of development for decades, from planning to actual construction - several segments of tunnels were completed in the 1970s. The estimated completion date would be sometime around 2020, due in part to the massively complex and disruptive efforts required to install a subway line along almost two hundred unthinkably dense city blocks. As a subway dilettante, I'm riven by the excitement that comes with the first major addition of a new line to the network in well over half a century (and relief of congestion on current lines, increased commuting convenience, etc, etc) and the dread which greets the news of just how disruptive the construction would be. Thankfully, the odds that I'll be around here in time for the groundbreaking (let alone the finished product in 17 years) are feeble, sparing me the difficult resolution of this inner torment.

Of course, the reason the project was mothballed in the 70s was due to a fiscal crisis, which seems to be looming nowadays as well, so who knows if it will actually get anywhere beyond the "public hearing" phase.

Executive summary here. My first reaction: only a two-track line? That's myopic as it eliminates the possibility of regular express service, which is vital should the ridership reach critical mass. Adding new tracks later would be prohibitively costly - if you're going to tear up 8.5 miles of city streets, it's best to only do it once.

Posted by morland @ 01:12 PM

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