The extension of the No. 7 subway line from Times Square to the Javits Convention Center may not be non-stop after all and a station might be possible at Tenth Avenue at 41st Street, the Bloomberg Administration has "discovered," according to an article at crains.com today by Erik Engquist.

The MTA and city officials have been maintaining for quite some time that there are no funds for a second station at that location, and that its costs might be about $500 million. A station at that location is desperately needed, according to many urban planners, because of the enormous amount of residential construction in recent years in Far West Midtown, especially along the 42nd Street corridor.

"While there are no plans to build the station," the article said, "the administration now believes its ongoing project to extend the No. 7 to 11th Avenue and 33rd Street from Times Square will not preclude the construction of a midpoint station in the future, or add to its anticipated cost of $500 million. However, for the Tenth Avenue station to be built at that price, it would have to have separate entrances for the eastbound and westbound platforms. It has been decades since the Metropolitan Transportation Authority built stations that way, but the MTA has agreed to the concept in this instance. The Bloomberg administration is applying for a $3 million federal grant for an engineering study to see if such a design is feasible."

The article gave no indication why no one at the MTA or the Bloomberg Administration had not previously considered such a plan.

"The news brought cheers from elected officials and real estate interests, who had been advocating for the station at Tenth Avenue between 41st and 42nd streets, and had been told previously that it would be prohibitively expensive if the design of the tunnel were not changed. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose district includes the West Side, said a midpoint station is 'far beyond a convenience' for residents and businesses in the area. 'We had been at a spot where the train looked derailed,' Ms. Quinn said. 'The train is back on the track. All of us on the West Side are very grateful that the mayor has taken this step.'

Given the fact that there is little certainty that the Second Avenue Subway now under construction will ever be extended south of 63rd Street, the extension of the No. 7 line with a second station is probably the most important transportation goal for the city apart from forcing cyclists and skateboarders to obey the traffic laws.

"Without this action, and without this redesign, there would not even be hope that a station could be built," said Mary Ann Tighe, chairwoman of the Real Estate Board of New York, in a statement, adding that "Now the residents and businesses located in this area, and those still to come to the Far West Side, will know that a station is still possible."

"Strong advocacy from elected officials and real estate executives for the $3 million grant to study the idea makes it likely that New York will get it from Washington. 'This funding is an important first step in fulfilling the promise made to thousands of residents and businesses who moved to the Far West Side because they believed they would have convenient transportation built in the near future,' REBNY President Steven Spinola said in a statement," according to the article.