New York, NY —

Faced with the need to cut service and hike fares, the MTA is cutting back on major construction projects. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman reports that the latest cut is to a section of the Second Avenue subway.

REPORTER: Originally, the MTA wanted to build an extra bypass track at the 72nd Street station, so traffic could continue to move even if a train stalled while at the platform. But in order to save $90 million, the authority's capital construction committee voted Monday to go with a simpler two-track version instead.

The cheaper design may cause a few delays once the subway line gets up and running in the year 2015. But the real rub is that redesigning the station at this stage will cost an extra $26 million. The head of the MTA's construction company, Michael Horodniceanu, says that still nets a savings of about $65 million. For WNYC, I'm Matthew Schuerman.

REPORTER: The first phase of the new subway line will stretch from 125th to 63rd streets and is expected to cost more than $4 billion.