2nd Ave. groundbreaking a milestone in subway expansion.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority marked the start of construction on the first phase of the long-awaited Second Avenue Subway at a special groundbreaking ceremony this week.

The ceremony was held at the south end of one of the tunnel segments built for the project in the 1970s, as officials representing the entire MTA family joined elected officials and transit advocates to symbolically clear the way for the project's southern journey.

The historic event served as the starting point for a capital project that will bring transportation relief to hundreds of thousands of commuters each day.

"This time it's for real. At long last, we will build the Second Avenue Subway," said MTA executive director and CEO Elliot G. Sander. "Second Avenue is the most important mass transit project in the United States. It is critical to support the region's economic growth and environmental health for the next generation."

Governor Eliot Spitzer commented, "After decades of delay, the construction of the Second Avenue Subway is the type of bold investment required to broaden the city's diverse infrastructure and, in turn, adds the capacity necessary to support New York City's continued population and economic growth.

"Just as the construction of New York's original subway facilitated the historic development of the city at the turn of the last century, the Second Avenue Subway will further open up parts of the city to new economic development."

First proposed in the 1920s, a new subway line on Second Avenue has been desperately needed since the East Side's elevated train lines were demolished in the 1940's and 1950's. The Lexington Avenue Line has long been the subway system's most congested, and the M15 bus route, which operates along First and Second Avenues, is the busiest in the country, carrying 60,000 customers a day and operating every 90 seconds at the height of the morning and evening rush periods.

Construction of the new subway will ease the pressure on these lines, improving travel conditions for commuters while also increasing their transportation options. Transfer links will be provided for other subway lines, and the MTA Metro-North Railroad at Harlem-125th St. Additionally, the Second Avenue Subway will benefit commuters living far beyond Manhattan, support existing businesses and serve as a catalyst for new development.

The need for the new line has never been greater, with projections for the City's population growth forecasting more than nine million New Yorkers by 2030, and an additional 750,000 new jobs. A state-of-the-art, reliable and efficient mass transit system will be needed to help ease congestion on area streets and roads. The new Second Avenue line will help meet that need.

The line will be constructed in four phases. Using an existing six-block long tunnel segment (running from 99th St. to 105th St.) in combination with new construction, the initial phase will be built from 105th St. to 62nd St. with stations at 96th, 86th, 72nd, and 63rd Sts.

The route will join the 63rd St. Line and then head west beneath Central Park before hooking into the Broadway Line at 57th St. and Seventh Avenue. From there it will run to lower Manhattan and Brooklyn along existing tracks.

This first phase will be an extension of Q Line service, which now terminates at 57th St. and 7th Ave. Ridership projections expect weekday usage of more than 200,000 customers when trains begin running in 2013, taking 3,800 daily vehicular trips off of local roads.

Funding for the $3.8 billion first phase consists of a combination of Federal Transit Administration grants and local funds provided by the New York State Transportation Bond Act and the MTA Capital Program. Specifically, the 2000-2004 Capital Program included $1.05 billion, the 2005-2009 Capital Program another $650 million, $1.3 billion is expected from the federal government and approximately $875 million will be needed in the 2010 Capital Program.

Customers will access the new stations through a combination of stairways, escalators and, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, elevators from the street to mezzanine levels and from the mezzanine to the platform.

The second phase of the project will send the line north from 105th St. to 125th St. and Park Ave.

During this phase of construction the existing tunnel section between 112th and 120th Streets will be utilized.

The third phase will head south to Houston St. under Second Avenue. The fourth phase will extend from Houston St. to Hanover Square.

At the conclusion of the final phase the line will run 8.5 miles and be served by 16 stations between 125th St./Park Ave. and the Financial District in Lower Manhattan, providing the first rapid transit alternative to the Lexington Avenue subway since the Manhattan segment of the Third Avenue Elevated ceased operation in 1955.

When the full-length Second Avenue line is completed, the Q train will be joined by the T which will travel the length of the east side.