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10/9/2026
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has released the draft scoping document for the proposed 125th Street subway tunnel extension and is seeking public comments as it enters the environmental review phase.
The ongoing MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) Second Avenue Subway (SAS) Phase 2 project will utilize two massive tunnel boring machines (TBMs) that will end their run under W. 125th Street between Lenox and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Avenues. Under the new draft proposal, the machines would continue westward to build tunnel for a future cross-town subway line under 125th Street.
“Given the huge potential to save time and money, it would be irresponsible not to explore options to keep digging westward under [125th Street],” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “And we are of course making it a priority to get community input and feedback as we kick off the environmental review process.”
Reusing the TBMs from SAS Phase 2 could save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars while speeding up tunnel construction by more than two years, MTA officials said.
The extension, first identified in the MTA’s last 20-Year Needs Assessment, would greatly improve travel across 125 Street – the busiest cross-town bus corridor in Manhattan – and connect to the subway 1, 2, 3, A, C, B and D lines and MTA Metro-North Railroad trains, with transfer stations at Lenox Avenue, St. Nicholas Avenue and Broadway.
The MTA undertook a feasibility study for the 125th Street subway extension concept in December 2025; environmental review is now underway.
The public comment period runs through Nov. 13. The MTA will host public comment sessions in person and virtually Oct. 22 and Oct. 27. Members of the public can also submit comments by mail or online.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is expected to be released in first-quarter 2027.