Overview

• Connect Plus Partners won the roughly $1.97 billion contract to bore twin tunnels from 96th to 125th Street and excavate space for the future 125th Street station
• Phase 2 will add three ADA-accessible stops at 106th, 116th and 125th streets with a direct transfer to the Lexington Avenue lines at 125th
• Reusing a 1970s-built tunnel segment for the 116th Street station and other cost-containment measures are expected to save about $1.8 billion overall, including $500 million on tunnel routing
• Early utility and street work begins later this year, heavy construction starts in early 2026, and 750-ton tunnel-boring machines are slated to start digging in 2027 toward a 2032 opening
• The expansion depends on congestion-pricing funds and conditional federal grants, aims to create about 70,000 jobs with a 20% local-hire goal in East Harlem, and is proceeding even as some residents receive eminent-domain notices