For New Yorkers who live north of 96th Street on Manhattan’s east side, the MTA says it is getting closer to making commuting on public transit easier by extending the Second Avenue subway to East 125th Street.

Conceptual renderings of the new stations are giving future riders their first look at what the finished project might look like.

“People who live on the east side have to walk to Lexington Avenue, so cutting that off is gonna be great,” said commuter Brian Moore.

On Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the state is now soliciting bids for the first construction contract for the second phase of the project.

The plan will connect the line’s current terminus at 96th Street on the Upper East Side to East Harlem, featuring three new fully accessible stations at 106th, 116th and East 125th streets.

Riders say it’ll help ease crowding and provide more options.

“It is gonna be awesome because that way it can relieve all the crowding on Lexington Avenue from 96th Street all the way up to Harlem, 125th Street, plus the customers will have better options from connecting Metro North Harlem 125th Street to get to their destinations with the Q train as well,” explained Nicholas Noel.

The MTA said it plans to award a contract worth $50-$100 million as early as the fall, with work to begin on the years-long construction project by the end of 2023.

The scope of the work for this first contract of phase two will involve utility relocation, laying the groundwork for advancing construction of the three stations and installing system infrastructure.

Phase one of the Second Avenue Subway Project opened behind schedule and over budget back in 2017.

The new stations at 72nd, 86th and 96th streets became the largest expansion of the subway system in decades.

The total cost of the project is expected to be more than $7 billion.

The MTA says the federal government will pick up some of that expense, but did not yet have a timeline as to when the entire project would be completed.