The MTA has repeatedly said that the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway will be open by this December, but a new report suggests that work on the line's forthcoming stations isn't keeping pace with that schedule.
In advance of the MTA's oversight committee's meeting, Second Avenue Sagas took a look through a PDF that outlines status updates on many of the MTA's Capital Construction projects (including the fact that the L train shutdown could begin in 2019). In it, the agency's Independent Engineering Consultant (IEC) notes that delays in work on the 72nd Street station "has not reached the level necessary to support the accelerated schedule." Specifically, installation of the station's escalators, HVAC, and tunnel vent systems is running behind—in the case of the escalators, by as much as four weeks.
Meanwhile, escalator and elevator installation is also running behind at the 86th and 96th street stations, while work on the 63rd Street station (which is happening even as the station, currently home to the F train, is still operational) is currently on track.
The MTA, for its part, says in the report that these delays shouldn't impact the December 2016 deadline, but as SAS's Ben Kabak points out, "the key updates will arrive in June when the testing schedule must come into focus to meet the December revenue service date." So for now, it's a waiting game…but considering the MTA's history with delays, we're not holding our breath.