SSG 12: The Archer Ave Extension (Updated)

Awaken NYC September 4, 2021

The 1967 Chrystie St Connection marked a new era for the NYC Transit Authority (TA) in terms of subway construction—at least the attempt at such. Following the connection, in 1968, came the Program for Action, which included plans for the construction of the Second Avenue Subway, 63rd St Tunnel, Queens Super Express, and the Archer Ave Extension.

The Archer Ave Extension was built through many scandals and much political and economic turmoil as the City and TA slogged on through the ‘70s and ‘80s, a notoriously rough time for New York. The Extension brought three new stations: Jamaica—Van Wyck, Sutphin Blvd, and Parsons Blvd—Jamaica Center. It includes two levels, with the upper level for IND Queens Blvd Line trains (the E line) and the lower level for BMT Jamaica Line trains (the J and Z line). For the BMT line, it would partially replace an elevated line that had been demolished.

Transition point to newer ‘70s construction on branch from IND Queens Blvd Line

As for the IND, the line the line stemmed from a Second System provision which had been built during construction of the Queens Blvd Line in the late ‘30s, southeast (railroad north) of the Briarwood station. Originally intended for a subway extension under the Van Wyck Expressway, the provision extended as a lower level tunnel most of the way to the new Jamaica—Van Wyck station, before dead ending. The newer tunnel (constructed in the ‘70s-’80s) consists of a diamond crossover (X track) just before going into the new Van Wyck station. From there, the extension curves east to Archer Ave, becoming the upper level. The upper level continues as tail tracks after the terminal station at Parsons, curving south as a provision for a future extension down the LIRR Atlantic Branch right of way, through the now underserved southeast Queens.

The curve in the tail tracks provision, leaving many layup trains tilted

The tunnels are relatively clean, as should e expected with their age, and feature different methods of construction. Some segments of the extension were constructed using the tunneling shield technique of deep bore tunneling—intended to minimize disturbance to the neighborhood. This is the source of the interesting round structure of some segments of the tunnel. However, most of the extension was built with the standard cut-and-cover method.

SSG 11: Queens Blvd Super Express (Updated)

Awaken NYC September 4, 2021

This tunnel is a continuation of the 63rd St Tunnel, completed in 2001 to make the connection between the 63rd St Tunnel that opened in 1989 and the IND Queens Blvd Line, around 40th Rd and Northern Blvd in Long Island City. This final connection of the 63rd St Tunnel to the Queens Corridor had massive effects on service capacity in Queens.

2001 connection lead to Queens Blvd Line

The tunnel was constructed with a bellmouth provision for connection to a future Queens “Super Express” line which would run via the nearby Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) right of way. The idea for this Super Express line had actually been around for quite a while, along with the many other plans for branches/extensions under the Second System that never materialized. Under this iteration of the plan, in accordance with the 63rd St Tunnel plan, the Super Express would have gone through this bellmouth and a short distance in a new tunnel before surfacing in the Sunnyside Yard. The line then would have continue on the LIRR Main Line right of way across Queens, going express via the underutilized 5th and 6th tracks. A new tunnel would be constructed in Forest Hills to connect the Super Express back into the subway, and into the Forest Hills—71st Ave station.

The extra capacity this plan would have provided in Queens was part of a larger plan for more extensions in Queens. Trains originally would have continued onto the planned Hillside Ave extension, and in the later version would have served the new area connected to the Archer Ave Line.

The tunnel itself that contains the provision is rather dull, as can be observed in the photos. It’s a pretty plain gray color, though it is still relatively clean being that it’s one of the newer tunnels in the system. The provision has become a bit of a sewer, dark and full of disgusting muck. It smells awful, a phenomenon I have noticed with many similar tunnels, built near the same time and using similar construction techniques/designs. There are a few gross looking mysterious goos inside the bellmouth of off white, orange, and dark colors—likely the result of water intrusion and erosion in the concrete and steel structure of the tunnel.

SSG 10: The 63rd St Tunnel (Updated)

Awaken NYC September 1, 2021

The 63rd St Tunnel happens to be my favorite of all the tunnels. Known for years as the “tunnel to nowhere,” as well as the “Zoo York Tunnel” by artists, the 63rd St Tunnel first opened to passenger service in 1989. A massive connection for multiple lines and spanning from Midtown Manhattan to Long Island City, Queens, the 63rd St Tunnel starts at 57th St on both 6th and 7th Ave, continues north into Central Park, and curves east under the park, with the two branches coming together near 5th Ave. From there, it continues east on 63rd St, across the river (and through Roosevelt Island), and across 41st Ave in Queens, finally making its connection to the Queens Blvd Line at Northern Blvd (around 40th Rd), on the 36th St Interlocking. The tunnel contains stations at Lexington Ave—63rd St, Roosevelt Island, and 21st St—Queensbridge. There is an additional branch of the 63rd St Tunnel which begins at the Lex/63rd station, curving toward the north to meet the Second Avenue Subway. A bellmouth provision was also constructed in the tunnel between 1st and 2nd Ave to accommodate a later connection between the Second Avenue Subway south of 63rd and the Queens Blvd Line.

The 63rd St Tunnel route and track map (map credit: vanmaps.com)

63rd St Tunnel, lower level (LIRR level) in the under-river tube section

Construction on the 63rd St Tunnel began in 1969, following the MTA’s Program for Action plan for subway/rail improvements and extensions. The project would serve as a complementary project to the Chrystie St Connection and 6th Ave express tracks, both of which had been built over the prior decade and a half. Those projects introduced a higher capacity to the 6th Ave Line, as well as building a new stub terminal at 57th St and 6th Ave. The 63rd project would make use of this increased capacity and create the connection between the 57th St terminal and the Queens Blvd mainline. The plan for 63rd also called for a bi-level under-river tunnel, with the lower level being dedicated for Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) service to Grand Central (the current-day East Side Access project), while the upper level would be used by NYCT.

The reason I classify the 63rd St Tunnel as a Second System Gem is that it was the latest evolution of an earlier IND proposal for new under-river tubes at 61st St—later moved up to 76th St. The 63rd St Tunnel was also designed with several Second System lines in mind: the Second Avenue Subway (SAS) and the Queens Super Express. Half of the Manhattan portion of 63rd was unused until SAS Phase I opened in 2017, with 2 tracks and half of the Lex/63 station being unused until that point. The portion between Lex/63 and Roosevelt Island was also built with a bellmouth provision for later SAS construction, to allow a connection between SAS south of 63rd and the Queens Blvd Line.

Bellmouth provision in the 63rd St Tunnel for later connection to SAS south of 63rd

When NYC hit the fiscal crisis in the mid-’70s, the Second Avenue Subway project was called off, while the 63rd St Tunnel dragged on. A diverse set of construction methods were utilized to build this tunnel, a big part of why it is my favorite. Some sections were cut-and-cover, while others were deep bored via tunneling shield, while others were mined out via drilling and blasting, and the two under-river sections via sunken prefabricated tubes. Additionally, the tunnel was built with many features which can be observed as distinguishing hallmarks of NYC subway construction at the time: continuous welded rail, concrete roadbed and rail mounts, rubber padding on rail plates, fluorescent lighting, modern architecture, and more.

Inside of the upper level of the prefabricated under-river tubes.

The result of these different and improved methods is an architecturally diverse and pleasing tunnel, full of nooks and crannies to explore and unique angles unlike those found anywhere else in the system—even the world. This architectural diversity, labyrinth of spaces, and visually appealing design are what make the 63rd St Tunnel my favorite. Construction would continue behind schedule through budget shortfalls and logistical issues, until finally opening in 1989—two decades after construction began.

With the 1989 completion, the Lexington Ave/63rd St, Roosevelt Island, and 21st St stations were opened. However, the 21st St station in Queens served as the terminal, with the tunnel ending there. As such, the customer reach was extremely limited. To add insult to injury, more than half of the entire tunnel was unused: half of the tunnel in Manhattan had been built as a provision for Second Avenue Subway service which didn’t exist, and half of the tunnel in Queens and between Queens and Manhattan was intended for LIRR service to Grand Central, which also didn’t exist. The connection to the Queens Blvd Line was finally completed in 2001, 32 years after construction initiated.

The connection to SAS was not completed until 16 years later, on Jan 1st, 2017. For photos of the tunnel prior to and during SAS construction, check out the LTV Squad website, with an article from when the tunnel was dormant, and an update from mid-construction, as well as this one showing the SAS tracks prior to the project. Today, the 63rd St Tunnel serves Q trains to/from Broadway and 2nd Ave, as well as F trains to/from Queens Blvd and 6th Ave. Construction on the LIRR East Side Access project is also nearly complete, after years of delays, controversy, and budget gouging (I will do a mega-post on the ESA project once it is complete).

SSG 9: The Chrystie St Connection (Updated)

Awaken NYC September 1, 2021

In the earlier days of the subway, the BRT (Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company—later the BMT, Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation) claimed the Manhattan Bridge as its own, creating a major link between the extensive BMT lines in Brooklyn and their lines in Manhattan. The Manhattan Bridge was built with two sets of tracks, with a pair on either side of the bridge (under the side roadways and next to the pedestrian/bike paths). As originally configured, the northern set of tracks connected to the BMT Broadway Line (today’s N, R, R, and W lines), while the southern set connected to the Nassau St Line (today’s J and Z lines).

However, by the ‘60s, any value in the connection to the Nassau loop via the Manhattan Bridge had been lost, and the NYC Transit Authority (TA)—which had absorbed control of all three rapid transit corporations in the city by the ‘40s—decided to sever the connection and reconfigure the tracks such that the southern set would link to the Broadway Line, while the northern set would link to the IND 6th Ave Line (today’s B, D, F, and M lines) via a new tunnel under Chrystie St on the Lower East Side. The project would accordingly be dubbed the “Chrystie St Connection,” and would reshape the entire transit system for good.

The plan for the new tunnels would provide for a connection between the Nassau St Line and 6th Ave Line and between the BMT lines in Brooklyn and the IND 6th Ave Line. The connection would begin east of the IND Broadway—Lafayette station, with the express tracks sloping upward and going over their former connection to the 2nd Ave station. Additionally, there would be a new flying junction on the local tracks. The tunnel would then curve south on Chrystie St, with the local tracks turning back east on Delancey St, making a connection with the Nassau St Line between the Essex St and Bowery stations, allowing 6th Ave local trains (today’s M line) to connect to the BMT Jamaica Line via the Williamsburg Bridge. The express tracks would continue further south on Chrystie St, continuing south to the Manhattan Bridge. A station would also be constructed at Grand St for trains on the express tracks (today’s B and D lines).

It was decided to utilize the cut-and-cover tunnel construction method for the Chrystie project, and as such, Chrystie St was almost entirely torn up. Urban legend has it that with this tunnel, a provision was built for LoMEx: the Lower Manhattan Expressway. LoMEx was a Robert Moses project, the idea being reducing the high vehicular congestion in the neighborhood, especially that due to traffic going between the West Side Highway, the Williamsburg Bridge, and the Manhattan Bridge, and the project was planned to run under Chrystie St for the lead up to the Manhattan Bridge. While I haven’t heard accounts of people getting in or seen photos, and haven’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t doubt that some provision could have been constructed. For some time, many people believed the provision was under a mysterious stairway concealed by a grate in the middle of the tunnel, but this sealed up stairway actually goes down to the Bowery station of the BMT Nassau St Line, over which the Chrystie tunnel directly passes.

While the connection, which opened in 1968, is relatively small, its effects were enormous. The extensive BMT lines in Brooklyn were now able to carry trains to/from IND lines in Manhattan, creating greater connectivity for the city. Prior to the connection, despite unification of the three companies into one system in the ‘40s, New Yorkers regularly distinguished lines by the company names still—the IRT, BMT, and IND. Suddenly, the BMT and IND were intertwined. The Connection also began to utilize the new capacity created on 6th Ave by the express tracks and 57th St terminal. Soon, following the opening of Chrystie, came the 63rd St Tunnel project to take greater advantage of that capacity, extending past 57th St.

SSG 6: The Rego Park Provision (Updated)

Awaken NYC August 30, 2021

Another prominent provision along the IND Queens Blvd Line—though lesser known than the Winfield Spur at Roosevelt Ave—the Rego Park provision was planned to serve a very similar route to the Winfield Spur. Sitting between 63rd Dr and 67th Ave are several bellmouths to provide for an extension south via the LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch right of way, without having to reconstruct the entire surrounding tunnel on QBL (similar to other Second System provisions around the city). It’s unclear to me what exactly the progression of plans for this branch of the line was, but in 1929 only an extension branching from Roosevelt Ave had been planned, and by 1939 the extension was only planned to go from this provision.

Southern bellmouth between 63rd Dr and 67th Ave, QBL

Regardless, this line would have brought full time subway service to underserved or unserved neighborhoods and made use of the now decaying LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch (a land of many mosquitoes). Recently, there have been several proposals to utilize this line, but unfortunately, none have gained any traction.

There isn’t much to the tunnel itself at a glance: the provisions are in a standard IND tunnel, cut and cover (boxy) construction, between two local stations. However, a nearby local station, Woodhaven Blvd, actually would have been converted into an express stop during the construction of this line. Furthermore, an additional under-river tunnel between Queens and Manhattan was proposed to supplement service to this line. Originally, the under-river tunnel was planned to be at 61st St, but by 1939 it was moved to 76th St, to join the Queens Blvd Line at Broadway and Steinway St in Queens. This under-river tunnel did actually later materialize as the 63rd St Tunnel.

Integral Interlockings 2: The 142nd St Junction

Awaken NYC August 19, 2021

The IRT Lenox Ave line was one of the first subway lines built in NYC, built under the same contract as the first NYC subway (Contract I). The Lenox Ave line opened the same year as that subway—1904. Soon after, the under-river tunnel to The Bronx (the Lenox Tubes) opened in 1905.

In order to allow for a Lenox Terminal and Lenox Yard separate from the extension to The Bronx, the 142nd St Junction was constructed. This interlocking allows for the current day (2) trains to go to The Bronx, while the (3) trains continue north to the Lenox Terminal. (While the 145th St station was part of the original construction, the terminal at 148th St wasn’t built for another 50 years.)

Similar to the interlocking which leads to the new and old South Ferry platforms, the junction at 142nd and Lenox is at grade, so the southbound track from The Bronx crosses over both tracks that continue up Lenox Ave. As a result, when a southbound (2) train is crossing the switch from The Bronx, no trains to/from the Lenox Terminal can pass through the junction until the (2) train has cleared the switch. This creates a bit of a bottleneck, especially during rush hour. The IRT has many inefficient interlockings such as this, leftover from a time when speed was of less consideration and minimizing disruption to the surface level during construction was prioritized (for example, when building a similar junction on Eastern Pkwy in Brooklyn known as Rogers Junction, the IRT configured the switch inefficiently so that the “nice” trees on the surface level wouldn’t need to be torn down).

While this junction will likely continue to inconvenience commuters for years to come, it does make a nice place for some photos.