By Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Senior Editor
MANHATTAN — Digging for the west tunnel of the Second Avenue Subway has been completed, the MTA announced Monday.
A massive tunnel boring machine, which began drilling the subway path in May 2010, will now be taken apart and reassembled at East 92nd Street to begin drilling the project's east tunnel.
The completed subway tunnel will one day allow the Q train, and a new T train, to run from East 96th Street to East 63rd Street. The first section of the Second Avenue Subway line is expected to be open by December 2016.
"Construction of this much-needed subway continues to move forward and this week marks another major accomplishment to transform New York as we know it," said MTA Capital Construction President Michael Horodniceanu said in a statement. "These are tangible results that will not only expand our capacity but will also bring new economic activity and growth to Manhattan’s Upper East Side and points beyond."
The first section of the Second Avenue Subway was supposed to relieve crowding on the Lexington Avenue line by 13 percent, or more than 23,000 fewer riders, the MTA said. It was also expected to transport more than 200,000 riders a day, the agency said.
It was also expected to reduce travel times for east side residents by more than 10 minutes, the agency said.
Future sections of the subway line would extend into Harlem and down into the Financial District, the MTA said.
The subway line will travel down Second Avenue before linking up with the existing Q line tracks at East 63rd Street.
