The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board’s approval of a $1.97 billion construction contract last week was a major milestone in the long-overdue plan of extending Second Avenue subway service into East Harlem. The project, in the works for decades, has started and stopped so often it didn’t look like it would even happen. Now, it enters its second phase, extending the Q line from 96th Street to 125th Street. Tunnel boring is planned to begin in 2027 and completion is expected in 2032.

Tom Wright, executive director at the Regional Plan Association, called it “a big deal” for the transit-starved, working-class neighborhood, but noted the extension is one of several regional transportation projects completed, underway or planned, including the No. 7 train extension , Interboroug

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