MTA Agrees: 2nd Ave. Subway Expected in 2018

By [Dan Rivoli] When the Federal Transit Administration projected a 2018 end date for the Second Avenue Subway, the MTA maintained that straphangers would be riding on the new line by 2016. But now, the two agencies have come to an agreement: the Second Avenue Subway is expected to be completed by February 2018 and will cost more money to construct. The MTA acknowledged that Phase I of the Second Avenue Subway will be delayed by 44 months and is expected to cost $307 million more than the MTA"s $4.67 billion price tag's a total of $4.9 billion. The cost overruns and the delayed finish date were blamed on an â??unusually active construction market that drove up prices. But the Federal Transit Administration also slapped MTA"s management, according to a [June 18 letter obtained by The Observer](http://www.observer.com/2010/politics/feds-see-%E2%80%98grim%E2%80%99-delays-overruns-second-ave-subway-east-side-access). â??There is no question that the MTA shares some significant responsibility for these cost increases, wrote Peter Rogoff, head of the Federal Transit Administration, in a letter to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. There were lengthy delays in awarding contracts on the Second Avenue Subway project because of changes in the design of the project and procurement strategies. The new agreement means that the Full Funding Grant Agreement's which details the federal government"s funding of the Second Avenue Subway's will be amended. The MTA and Federal Transit Authority are ironing out the details of the changes to the funding agreement, according to the letter. Rogoff also addressed similar cost overruns and delays to another capital project, Eastside Access, which will connect the Long Island Rail Road in Queens to a new terminal in Grand Central Station. Despite the agreement, the MTA remains optimistic that their projections and deadlines will be met. â??We have a budget and a time line that we"re working toward and we plan to meet, said MTA spokesperson Jeremy Soffin in a statement. â??Both we and the F.T.A. acknowledge that there"s risk inherent in these projects. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who has secured[ federal funding](http://nypress.com/2010/07/07/fed-money-to-2nd-ave/) for the project in her East Side district, assured community members that the federal government is still committed to this major capital project. â??The amount the federal government has committed to fund the Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access projects will not change, Maloney said in a statement. â??I know that the MTA is working to finish these projects as quickly as is practicable and I am hopeful that they will be completed sooner than the F.T.A. is projecting. Even though the Federal Transit Administration called the news â??grim, they are rooting for the MTA to finish the Second Avenue Subway by 2016. â??MTA maintains that it can deliver these projects sooner and at lower cost than F.T.A. currently estimates, Rogoff wrote in the letter. â??I certainly hope MTA succeeds. [FTA Letter](http://www.scribd.com/doc/34324268/FTA-Letter)