Overview

• The MTA board voted July 30 to award a $166 million design agreement to Jacobs and HDR for full preliminary engineering of the 14-mile project.
• Jacobs and HDR will conduct corridor surveys, geotechnical and environmental investigations, structural inspections and public outreach over a two-year design phase.
• The Interborough Express will repurpose an underutilized freight line into a 19-stop light rail between Jackson Heights in Queens and the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Bay Ridge.
• Funding comes from the MTA’s $68.4 billion 2025–2029 capital plan and total construction is estimated at $5.5 billion under a two-phase build strategy.
• Preliminary engineering paves the way for corridor preparation followed by track and station construction, targeting an early-2030s launch to serve about 115,000 weekday riders.